Broken
by professor-fidget
Summary: Have you ever loved someone so much it hurt? Remus Lupin has ... R&R! disclaimer characters owned by JKR!
1. A Reluctant Date

The author of this story acknowledges that most of the characters and the atmosphere of this story is property of JK Rowling.  
  
It was nearing the end of April during the Marauders fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and the tension was high with students studying for their OWLs and NEWTs, as well as for the upcoming Spring Ball. Every student from fourth to seventh year was allowed to attend and the pressure was on to find a date.  
  
However, the Marauders did not appear to be suffering from the insecurities of their fellow students. They wasted no time looking for a partner for the dance. After his twelfth rejection from Lily Evans, James Potter had decided to ask Kelsey Smithettes, a fellow fifth-year and Lily's roommate. She had simply swooned and at the chance to go somewhere with the James Potter. Sirius Black was taking a sixth-year girl, Peter Pettigrew had decided not to attend the dance and Remus Lupin was trying to work up the nerve to ask the girl of his dreams to be his date. Adriana Finn.  
  
There was only one problem with the girl Remus had set his heart upon. One big problem. She was hopelessly in love with James, a fellow Marauder and one of his closest friends. Nobody knew this secret of hers except for him, she had told him at the end of their second year, the year when they had first become friends, and she had entrusted him as her confidant since that day. After close to three years of friendship Adriana now considered Remus to be one of her best friends, next to Lily of course, and he spent more time with her than he did with any other person, aside from Sirius, Peter, and James.  
  
Yet, in these years of friendship he had never found it in him to tell her that he loved her, had been in love with her since he first saw her at the Gryffindor house table at the welcoming feast of their first year. He had wanted to tell her, of course, but every time he even got close to telling her she would say something about James and it would shatter him as completely as a broken glass. So, Remus settled for loving her from afar and, being the great person that he was, answered her questions about James and agreed with her wholeheartedly on the fact that he was "just too stupid to see the wonderful girl sitting right in front of him."  
  
But right now, more than ever, he wanted things to change.  
  
He had been sitting alone in a comfy chair in front of the fire of the common room. Most of the other students had gone to bed, but he waited up. Adriana had asked him too that night at dinner.  
  
"Oi! Lupin," she had caught up with him just as he was about to leave the dining room. "Meet me later?" At his nod she had set the time, 1:00.  
  
And so he was there. Waiting for her. She had seemed cheery enough when she had asked him to come, but he knew the reason for there meeting. She wanted to talk to him about James.  
  
So he sat there at waited. A text book lay open on his lap, but he did not look at it. He was too involved in his own teenage melodramas. 12:00 rolled around, and in what seemed like the passing of mere moments 1:00 came. He checked his watch at the same time she came down the stairs, not even a minute after one.  
  
Adriana's hair was orange tonight, her eyes a vibrant blue- grey. That wasn't what she was supposed to look like, but she was a Metamorphmagus, able to change her appearance at the slightest whim. She smiled slightly at him as she approached; scanning the room to be sure that no one else was in it.  
  
"Hey Lupin. Some last minute studying?" She said teasingly as she gestured to the book on his lap as she took the seat on the couch across from him.  
  
He shrugged, "Just waiting for you." Remus closed his text book and placed by his feet. A frown tugged his brow as he searched her face. He hated it when she changed her appearance. "I don't like it."  
  
Adriana didn't have to ask what he was talking about, this was a regular occurrence. With a slight chuckle, she scrunched up her face with a look of great concentration and her face instantly changed. Her lips got less full, her eyes became wider and changed to a deep chocolate brown that matched her hair which shortened itself to shoulder length and became curled loosely. This was Adriana and she was gorgeous. "Better?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.  
  
"Much."  
  
She began the tradition, "You know ... you're the only-"  
  
"Person who cares that you won't be you.' He finished for her. They discussed this every time they were together, and she would always change back to herself to avoid further argument. But after they separated, she would always change something. And even though it seemed to escape everyone else's notice, he knew that she always made herself look more like Lily whenever she was around James.  
  
He didn't want to think about that anymore so he cleared his throat, "You wanted to talk?"  
  
The mischievous look that usually covered her face and that he loved was wiped off in an instant, to be replaced by the broken-hearted look which he had grown to know so well. "He's taking Kelsey, isn't he?"  
  
Remus's heart broke a little and he nodded.  
  
They sat in silence for a minute. She looked as if she was close to tears so he got up and moved so that he sat next to her on the couch. "Come on Ri, it's not the end of the world."  
  
"How would you know?" Adriana whispered sulkily as she rested her head on his shoulder. "You don't know what it's like to love someone so much it hurts, and they not even know." Remus put his arm around her and shut his eyes, a self-deprecating smile crossing his face. He knew all too well.  
  
"Now what am I going to do? I can't go now ..."  
  
"Why not?" Remus pulled her face off his shoulder so he could look at her better.  
  
"I can't go if I don't have a date," she said patronizingly, as if speaking to a small child.  
  
"You could go with me." Those five words spoken in a whisper shocked him just as much as they did her, if not more. He had finally said it after waiting five years. He couldn't breathe.  
  
And the expression on her face almost killed him. The shock had not yet died from her eyes and she stared without saying a word. She looked as if the thought had never crossed her mind, and it hurt. Oh, how it hurt.  
  
Remus quickly looked a way, to hide the pain from her, but she seemed to realize she had insulted him and spoke in a rush. "But Circe ... I thought you were going with her?" He just shrugged, afraid to speak as he did not trust his own voice. "Lupin ... we couldn't go together? It'd be weird."  
  
"Yeah." His voice sounded funny, even to his own ears and he coughed to clear his throat. He forced a laugh that he knew sounded fake, "It was stupid of me to ask. I just thought ..." he stopped talking as he looked down into her face. He couldn't finish his sentence and looked away again. Silence reigned for an hour-long minute.  
  
"Thought what?" Adriana prompted, obviously confused.  
  
"I was just being stupid, Ri," he took a deep breath. "But you're right, it would be weird." He took his arm from around her and she stared at the floor, leaning her head on her hands.  
  
"Maybe it wouldn't," the words barely a murmur, but they stopped his heart as effectively as a gun shot. He raised an eyebrow, but did not say anything, waiting for her to continue. "I mean, we hang out together all the time, it would just be like that. Right?" She shifted her head slightly so she could see him.  
  
"Right."  
  
"Sounds good," Ri smiled at him and he felt himself smile in return. But then, as if struck by lightning, the smile fell from her face. "What about Circe?"  
  
He shifted uncomfortably, "I never was going with her."  
  
"But she asked you, didn't she? She said she was going to." Circe was Adriana and Lily's roommate.  
  
"Yeah, she asked me." He didn't look her in the eye, not sure why he was so afraid of telling her this.  
  
"You said no?" At his nod, she pressed on. "Why?"  
  
He debated how much he wanted to tell her. He had said no, because he had still been trying to work up the nerve to ask Ri, but he couldn't tell her that, not after her reaction to him asking her in the first place. But he could think of nothing else to say. He knew Circe liked him, and had felt like a total cad saying no. The truth was he hadn't wanted to go to the dance with anyone but Adriana. "Didn't want to go with her," Remus mumbled.  
  
This time it was she who raised an eyebrow, but she sensed that he didn't want to talk on the subject anymore and didn't ask anymore questions. Another silence followed this one not as uncomfortable as the last and Remus settled himself back on the seat. Adriana followed suit and leaned back next to him.  
  
He watched her out of the corner of his eye and saw her scowl. His euphoria of going to the dance with Ri died and he readied himself for the painful conversation that he knew was about to follow.  
  
"Kelsey Smithettes?" Her tone held disbelief. "She's such a flake!" Remus didn't say anything, it would be best to just let her rant, as he had discovered from experience. "Now, I can see why he makes a fool of himself over Lily, she's perfect, but to lower his standards to Kelsey? How can he be so stupid?!"  
  
Now she expected him to answer, and he steeled his voice against the pain. "He couldn't think of anyone else, and she was the closest to him when Lily shot him down." Remus spoke the truth.  
  
"Too stupid to think of me, isn't he then." She scoffed, "I should just get over him then, shouldn't I? I mean, honestly Lupin, if he's too stupid to see what's right in front of him then he doesn't deserve my adoration."  
  
"No. He doesn't." Remus answered quietly.  
  
And if she was too stupid to see what was right in front of her then she didn't deserve his adoration.  
  
Together, they sat there for another hour or so, Adriana ranting to him as he kept his silence, tears staining his insides as he was once again struck with the knowledge that she loved his best friend, and to her, he was just a shoulder to cry on. 


	2. The Spring Ball

The Marauders sat at the back of their Charms class, as always. The Professor had let them be after telling them all to charm their books into dancing. With the exception of Peter, each one had mastered this trick and sat talking amongst themselves for the remainder of the class. Sirius sat with his feet propped up against his desk, his book lying open and flat in front of him. He had a cool elegance about him, and the girls sitting across from them kept giggling as they ogled him with hungry eyes. James, of course, sat next to Sirius. He had his elbow on his desk and leaned against it, watching Lily as his book did a frantic jig in front of him. Remus sat on the other side of Sirius.  
  
"So, I hear you're going with Finn?" Sirius asked Remus with interest. James dragged his attention away from Lily to hear. Peter continued working on charming his book with no success.  
  
Remus stole a glace and Adriana before he answered. "Yes," he said carefully.  
  
The Marauders knew how he felt about Ri, but they didn't talk about it much. Sirius was always trying to convince Remus to go for it with her, but none of them knew how she felt about James.  
  
"You finally went for it, eh?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.  
  
Remus squirmed in his seat, praying that she couldn't hear them talking. He stole another anxious glance at Ri. She was laughing at something Lily had said.  
  
"Something like that," Remus answered.  
  
"Good for you!" Sirius leaned forward and clapped Remus on the back. But he said this loudly and both Lily and Adriana turned to see what they were talking about. Lily smiled at him, scowled at James and then turned back around, but Ri held his gaze for longer. He wondered if she knew what they were talking about.  
  
Remus was saved from having to respond by the bell. It was now time for lunch and the Gryffindor's herded out of the classroom.  
  
The dance and Remus's date was not discussed again for the two weeks until the dance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
When the day of the dance approached, Remus was more nervous than he had ever been in his life. Actually, he was more than nervous. He was terrified. Adriana and he had gone on as if nothing was different. She had continued to sulk about the fact that James was taking "a stupid loser" like Kelsey, and treating him like the brother she never had.  
  
They had agreed to meet in the common room at six-thirty, a half an hour before the dance, and hang out with the other Marauders. This had seemed like a brilliant idea at the time, but after agreeing to do this, Remus realized that Adriana more than likely had a hidden motive behind her suggestion. Hanging with the Marauders meant hanging with James.  
  
Even after agreeing to go to the dance with him, Ri was still going to fawn after James like a lost puppy.  
  
At five o'clock that day Remus went upstairs with Sirius and James to get ready. Peter had gone to the library to avoid the other dance- goers. Remus put on his dress robes as the other too guys chatted. After getting ready he stood in front of the mirror, judging himself.  
  
While not as incredibly good looking as Sirius or James, Remus was not at all lacking. He had shaggy light-brown hair that was dusted with different shades of darker brown, and fell around his ears and just brushed his neck in the back. He had an endearing face and high cheekbones, with a small scar close to his left ear. His eyes were a fathomless dark brown with blue flecks around the pupil, the eyes of someone you trust. Remus was fit too, standing at 5'11". Strong and intense, characteristics he had gained from his life as a werewolf. What was not to like?  
  
But he knew what was not to like. Knew what it was that Adriana didn't like.  
  
He was not James Potter.  
  
"Oi! Moony!" James interrupted Remus's thoughts as he got up and stood beside him. "Sirius and I are heading down to meet the girls," he raised his eyebrows, putting emphasis on the word girls. "You ready?"  
  
Remus nodded and the three made their way downstairs. The common room was more crowded than usual, with students meeting their dates. At first Remus thought that he would never find Adriana amongst the students but he soon spotted her standing close to the fireplace next to Kelsey Smithettes and Lily. He chuckled to himself and thought about how she must be mortified to be stuck with Kelsey.  
  
He nudged James in the arm and the two headed towards their dates. With a nod, Sirius headed in the opposite direction, after his own sixth-year date. When they reached Adriana and Kelsey, James acted like the arrogant fool he was and began to flirt outrageously with his date. Remus knew he was only doing this because Lily was standing three feet away, looking absolutely disgusted. With a quick whispered word to Adriana, Lily walked away and James's enthusiasm died down a bit.  
  
Adriana was watching James with a pained expression, and Remus took this opportunity to admire her looks.  
  
Ri was gorgeous. She looked like a seraph, heavenly and too good to be real. She had kept her appearance as close to normal as possible, knowing Remus would be upset if she didn't, the only alteration was her hair was several inches longer than it should be. She had swept it up loosely and held it together with some small flower clips. Stray curls hung down, framing her face in strategic places. She wore make-up too, a rare occurrence for her. Her brown eyes were dusted with emerald and gold shadow and a faint flush stained her cheeks. Her dress robes were of the same emerald colour with a dark brown and gold trim. Remus had to mentally kick himself to keep from staring.  
  
He leaned close to her ear and whispered, "You look gorgeous, Ri."  
  
She blushed a bit and playfully elbowed him in the ribs. "You don't look bad yourself, Lupin."  
  
At that moment Sirius made his way over, his arm around a remarkably beautiful girl of Spanish decent. She seemed absolutely ecstatic to be with him. James ceased flirting with Kelsey long enough to smirk at Sirius.  
  
"You're looking good tonight, Finn." Sirius complimented Adriana, which was followed by a scathing glance directed at Ri from his date. Adriana thanked him, ignoring the other girl.  
  
"Yeah Finn, you look positively beautiful. Lucky Mooney eh?" James spoke and Adriana glowed at his praise. Remus frowned.  
  
Sirius noticed Remus's frown and opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by the voice of Professor McGonagall. "You may now proceed down to the Great Hall. The dance is about to begin."  
  
The three couples then made their way down, following the crowd out the door. Sirius and James hurried from the room, but Remus wanted to keep a bit of a distance from them so he could spend more time with Adriana without James as a distraction so he hung back a little. After several couples passed them he offered his arm to Adriana and the two followed everyone out.  
  
The four house tables of the Great Hall had been removed and replaced by dozens of little tables, each of which seated eight, all placed in a great circle that outlined the dance floor. An unknown band was playing softly in the background.  
  
They were to eat dinner first, and as they made their way into the room they spotted Lily and her date, Cory Ernst, a seventh year prefect, seated at a table far off in the corner. Remus and Adriana headed towards them and took seats.  
  
"Hey Lily, mind if we join you?" Adriana spoke teasingly as she took a seat next to her best friend.  
  
Everything was going great until Sirius and James spotted the four of them and joined the table. The smile that had covered Lily's face fell and Adriana seemed to brighten up.  
  
"Hey there Moony thought we'd lost you for a bit." Sirius flopped down in the seat next to Remus as James made a show of helping Kelsey into her seat. Sirius snickered as he watched James and Lily sneered.  
  
"Evans," James nodded coolly and Lily forced a smile. "Potter," she returned and then turned from him, showering attention on her own date and practically ignoring everyone else at the table. James was not to be outdone and did the same with his date. Soon after taking their seats, Sirius's date remembered that she had forgotten something in her room and ran off to go get it. This left Sirius, Remus, and Adriana to talk.  
  
Remus watched as Sirius's date ran off, a sudden thought entering his head as he turned his attention to his friend. "Padfoot? What's her name?" He gestured at the girl.  
  
"Meghan," Sirius replied.  
  
Lily, who had apparently been listening turned and glared at Sirius. "Actually, her name is Melissa." Remus suppressed a laugh.  
  
Sirius appeared indifferent as he answered back, "Well, how was I supposed to know? She didn't correct me when I called her Meghan."  
  
"You're such a prince Black," Ri said.  
  
Sirius shrugged.  
  
Melissa returned and Sirius turned his attention to her. Soon after the food arrived and was eaten, and following that the dance began.  
  
As the night progressed, Remus forgot to be nervous and realized that he was having fun. With James, Kelsey, and everyone else off dancing, Remus was free to talk to her without distractions. They even danced a few times. Everything was going good. Great.  
  
But all good things must come to an end, and that end came too soon for Remus. Far sooner than it should have.  
  
As Remus and Adriana had returned to their seats after the song they had been dancing to ended, she spotted James in the corner with Kelsey. It was obvious what the two were doing, and without a word she had turned in the opposite direction, leaving the Great Hall.  
  
Remus stood stunned for a moment before he regained his senses and followed after her. After she had made it out into the hallways she broke into a run, going outside. He followed her, trying to ignore the curious stares of people passing by.  
  
When he made it outside he did not see her at first, but soon spotted her leaning against a tree around the corner. Her eyes were shut, and even without seeing the tears he knew she was crying and the thought cut through his insides.  
  
He slowly walked towards her. "Ri ..." When he reached her she wiped her eyes and looked at him. They stood there in silence for a moment, his heart ripping to shreds with each second. "Come on Ri, don't cry ... it's not worth it to-"  
  
"How do you know what its worth?" She nearly spat the words out at him. "You don't know anything! Do you know how hard it is for me to have to sit there and watch him as he goes for every girl but me? For Christ sakes, she's my roommate!" Adriana dissolved into tears again and slid down so that she was sitting on the ground. Remus sat down beside her carefully. "Go away Lupin." She said feebly.  
  
"I know more than you think," he said, not bothering to disguise that sorrow in his voice. She looked over at him.  
  
They sat together in quiet; even Adriana's tears became silent. For once, Remus could think of nothing to say. No comforting words, no reassurances. The only thought he could think of was that he had lost. He had always known that he would never win against James, but this was the first time he had ever believed it 100% and this knowledge was nearly killing him.  
  
Adriana noticed something different in him too. She was so used to him doing everything in his power to make her feel better, and the absence of this bothered her. She tried to prompt his reassurances. "Lupin?" He did not respond verbally, but turned his head so that he was looking at her. Pain covered every inch of his face. "Couldn't you just talk to James? Say something nice about me or something?"  
  
This was the last straw for him. Something inside of him just snapped and he could no longer find it in him to be nice. He was so sick of everything. "No!" The word exploded from him, mirroring his anger.  
  
She started at the vehemence of his voice. "Lupin?" She questioned, confused at this change in him.  
  
He couldn't stop the feelings from pouring out from him. He couldn't care less anymore if she knew how he felt. He wasn't thinking about anything but his broken heart. "You think I don't know what it's like? I've always known what it's like to love someone who doesn't care?" He stood up and he began to get louder as he spoke. Louder and angrier. "Never once have you ever considered what it's been like for me, having to listen to you cry about him every time I'm around you! Listening and knowing that you don't give a damn about me." The shock on her face nearly stopped him, but he continued anyway. "I've been in love with you for years and you've been too stupid to notice. To wrapped up in James to even consider! Well, I've had it! Go pine after him if you want! But he wants Lily, not you, so it's just a waste of your time!" The tears started to stream down her face again, and she looked as if he had struck her.  
  
Remus couldn't stand it anymore. He turned and walked away, leaving Adriana by herself as she sobbed.  
  
By the time he got back to his room he had cooled off a bit. He undressed and lay back on his bed, throwing an arm over his eyes as if trying to fend off the thoughts.  
  
That had not been how he had imagined telling Ri how he felt. But there was no undoing it now. He had fucked up. 


	3. Secrets Out

It was now mid May. For two and a half weeks after the dance, Remus Lupin rushed too and from his classes without stopping, spent all his free time locked in his dormitory and the shrieking shack, and avoided the dining hall completely, sneaking into the kitchens after hours with James's invisibility cloak so that he could eat without being seen.  
  
All this just to avoid Adriana and she had not made it easy. They had five classes together which was the hardest time of all to avoid her because she was determined that they talk. In fact, if it weren't for the Marauders making it impossible for her to approach him during classes, than he would definitely not have succeeded in avoiding her.  
  
The night of the dance, when James and Sirius had come back to their room to find him lying on his bed in total despair, they had forced him to tell them what had happened. And he had. Omitting, of course, the part where Adriana was in love with James. Even after what had happened he couldn't betray her that way.  
  
Now, Remus sat alone in his room, lying flat on his back and staring at the ceiling as if in a coma. The rest of Gryffindor was out in the Great Hall enjoying dinner. He wished he was there as he had skipped lunch and was starving, but he knew he couldn't have gone. Going would have meant facing her, and he just wasn't ready for that.  
  
In the last two years of his friendship with Ri he had begun to realize that he had no chance in hell with her. Not only was she so completely gorgeous that she challenged Aphrodite in beauty, but she was brilliant and funny and ... perfect. He had liked to think that if it weren't for James he would be with her, but he could rarely convince himself of that dream, for there was a minor problem, and this one was something that he couldn't change. Remus Lupin was a werewolf, and how could he ever think it possible that someone as wonderful as Adriana could ever love a werewolf?  
  
She didn't know of course. Few people did. The Marauders did, and Dumbledore, a select number of teachers and his parents knew too. But he had never told her. After all, werewolves were the cast-offs of the magic world. A danger to themselves and those around them, considered untrustworthy and evil. Most people despised and feared them.  
  
He had always tried to keep his secret from people, fearing what would happen if ever someone found out. But people had found out; the Marauders. He could recall the day they had found out, how devastated he had been the instant they had told him they knew, because he had known that they would never want to be friends with a werewolf. But he had been wrong. Not only had they continued to be his friend, but they had become Animagus, able to transform into animals at will. Sirius had become Padfoot, a large dog that looked suspiciously like a Grim. James had become Prongs, a gigantic Stag. Together they had been able to keep a full grown werewolf under control. And then there was Peter, Peter had become Wormtail, a rat that was able to sneak into small places when needed. They were the best friends he had ever had.  
  
But no matter how happy and surprised he had been about them accepting him, he would never believe him lucky enough to have that happen twice. Never would he believe that Adriana would accept him if she found out. And now he would never have a chance to find out, for how could he face her after what had happened?  
  
Remus groaned and lifted his arm over his head so that it covered his eyes. How could he have been so stupid as to let himself lose control like that? He wasn't sure which had been harder, being her friend when she loved someone else, or not having her around at all. One thing was for sure though, with both situations he was left with the feeling that his heart was being ripped out and torn to shreds.  
  
He shut his eyes, trying to block out the painful thoughts. It was no use to think about it, to regret it. What's done is done and he now had to live with the consequences. It was then, right when he was about to roll over on his bed that he heard a voice that made his heart stop and his face lose it's colour.  
  
"Lupin?" Adriana had poked her head into his doorway and upon spotting him she stepped in like a mouse approaching a cat, closing the door with finality behind her. She looked just as she should with her hair colour as the only exception; it had streaks of yellow, orange, and red in it that made it look almost like flames as it was brushed so that it fanned around her face ending just above her shoulders. She was frowning, but did not look angry, more upset. Remus groaned as he turned to face her, unable to say anything.  
  
"I thought I'd find you hiding up here," Ri slowly walked into the room, looking curiously around, she stopped walking when she reached the foot of his bed. He did not move a muscle, just lay there looking up at her. What was she doing here?  
  
"What are you doing here Adriana? You shouldn't be here." His voice cracked and he could've died with the effort it took to speak to her. Seeing her hurt so much.  
  
And now she looked close to tears. "You ignore me in class, you run from me in the hallways, and between you and those stupid friends of yours I can't even talk to you for a second!" He almost laughed out loud; his stupid friends included James after all. "How long are you planning on avoiding me for?" She put her hands on her hips and he looked away because he could not bear the confusion in her eyes.  
  
"I'm not avoiding you," Remus whispered.  
  
"BULL SHIT! Even now you're not looking at me." She was right. "Look at me Lupin." He obeyed. She was crying and it ached in his heart. "Why are you avoiding me?"  
  
Remus couldn't help himself. He laughed. A cutting sarcastic laugh that made her start. He sat up on his bed. "You have to ask?" Adriana flushed. "Look, I think you should just leave ok? Just leave me alone." Those were the hardest things he had ever had to say, but he was afraid if she stayed in his room much longer he would die from the pain of it.  
  
"No, not until you talk to me. We need to talk," she almost pleaded.  
  
Remus stood up and started to walk past her, "then I'll leave." He had just reached the door when she stopped his heart for the second time that day.  
  
"You're not going to walk away from me Lupin," she turned an inch as she spoke, and her next words were barely above a whisper but he heard them as clearly as if she had yelled. "If you do I'll ... I'll ... I'll tell everyone that you're a werewolf!"  
  
He turned and looked at her in complete shock. His mouth opened and closed like a fish as he tried to get the words out. Without even asking the question she read it from his expression.  
  
"Do you think I'm stupid? For three years I've known you and you're constant 'visits' home once a month were a pitiful excuse. I figured it out long ago." She waved her hand in front of her as if impatient to get to the real reason she was there.  
  
"You never said anything," he spat out almost accusingly, walking back to his bed and sitting on the edge of it in complete and utter shock.  
  
"Of course I didn't! You never told me and I figured that if you had wanted me to know you would've. I figured you'd trust me enough in time." But she was wrong, in a way. He had wanted her to know he just hadn't wanted the reaction that would follow. "But that's not the point," she stressed again, trying to get back to the reason she had come here. But he had too many questions.  
  
"How did you –"  
  
"Defense Against the Dark Arts is my favorite class Lupin; I've read the text books back to front a thousand times, even the chapters on werewolves. It wasn't hard to put two and two together."  
  
A slight smile crossed his face, he was impressed. The smile instantly died when he remembered why she had come. "Alright," he said slowly, "you wanted to talk, than talk."  
  
Now it was her turn to squirm. Adriana fidgeted resembling a fish out of water while she seemed to be trying to think of what she wanted to say. She looked him straight in the eye and he could not look away, "What you said at the dance was right." He had not been expecting that. "If I had known ... if you'd ever told me how you ... I never would have treated you like that, talking about James all the time ... if you had just told me."  
  
Remus laughed and her brows drew together. He looked away from her. How could he have told her? How? When she was so in love with his best friend? He was startled from his thoughts when he felt his bed dip; she had sat down next to him.  
  
"I don't want to lose you as a friend Lupin. Can't we just go back to how it was?" She looked so hopeful and sad that it was impossible for him to say no, but going back to how things were wasn't what he wanted. A small part of him, deep down, had believed that her being here now meant more than friendship. That part was shattered.  
  
He nodded, not trusting his voice. Adriana broke into a wide grin and gave him a hug. "Good! I've missed you." Remus hugged her back, silently knowing that things could never go back to the way they were.  
  
*Thanks for the reviews!!* 


	4. End of Year Five

Sirius, James, and Peter came into the dorm room to find Adriana hugging Remus. Peter instantly 'remembered' something he had forgotten and left the room - he was always uncomfortable around girls - while both James and Sirius's faces were covered with smirks. Ri let him go and sat up straight.  
  
"Moony, you naughty boy" Sirius mocked.  
  
"Hey there Finn, what are you doing in the boys dormitory?" James asked while lifting his eyebrows suggestively. Sirius laughed and Adriana blushed.  
  
"It was the only chance I've gotten to talk to Lupin with you guys never letting me near him." Adriana accused.  
  
"She has a point Prongs" Sirius said as he crossed the room and leaned against his own bed. "Desperate times calls for desperate measures."  
  
"Wait," James said suspiciously. "How'd you get in here any way? We can't get into the girls dorms."  
  
"No wonder," Ri teased, "you'd be up to no good if you were allowed."  
Remus stayed silent through all this, ignoring it as he went through his conversation with Adriana in his head.  
  
"No good?! Me?! Padfoot, Moony, can you guys believe these accusations!" James said in mock disbelief.  
  
Sirius burst out laughing along with Adriana but Remus still didn't say anything. "Moony?" Sirius said when his laughing fit had ended.  
  
When he failed to respond Adriana elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow! What?" He looked around at the faces all watching him and felt uncomfortable. "I'm gonna go see if they're still serving dinner." Without waiting for anyone to respond he bolted out the door, but he did not head for the Great Hall, instead he went outside, not stopping until he reached a great oak tree that he slumped in front of.  
  
He knew he was being childish with his sudden retreat from the room, but he didn't care. He just wanted to be alone.  
  
In two months it was time to leave Hogwarts for summer vacations. The OWLs were over and the students had all breathed a collective sigh of relief. The Marauders, of course, were all sure that they had done extremely well; they did well in everything they deigned to do. Following Adriana's lead, Remus acted as if nothing had happened, continuing being the best of friends to her while his heart cracked beyond repair. The only difference was that she no longer asked him about James, much to his relief. Together, they hung out with the Marauders, Lily, and Circe – who had forgiven him for his rejection – and had as great a time as could be expected.  
  
When it came time for everyone to get off the train and leave, the group was sad to part, although they pretended not to be. There was only two years left until graduation, and though that seemed like such a long time, they each knew that two years could pass in seconds leaving you wonder where the time had gone.  
  
Everyone parted ways, promising to write and get together over the summer, and one by one they all went home. Remus and Adriana were the last to leave, and sat on a bench next to each other waiting for their parents to come and take them home.  
  
Neither spoke at first. Then, "Lupin?" He did not answer, but turned and looked at her so that their eyes met. "Are you going to write to me?" She spoke the words quietly and seemed very self-conscious, which was odd for her as she was the cockiest girl he knew.  
  
Remus felt the need to assure her, "Of course! Don't I always?" He smiled down at her.  
  
"Yeah ... but its different now, isn't it?" He swallowed hard and looked away from her for a moment. When he looked back he nodded. So, she had noticed it too. "We'll always be friends, right?" Remus was taken aback by her sudden insecurity.  
"Always." He replied forcefully.  
  
Adriana smiled up at him, and leaned her head against his shoulder as the two waited for their rides. Remus put his arm around her, and thought to himself that he wouldn't have minded if nobody came to pick him up, as long as he got to sit there, with her.  
  
*A/N:* sorry ... I know this chapter kinda sucks but I needed something to tie in 5th year and 6th year! All in all ... I shall be trying to develop more into the characters and make this story better! Thanks a lot to those who reviewed .. I REALLY appreciate it!!!! :D! 


	5. Jealous?

Over the summer vacation between his fifth and sixth year at Hogwarts Remus had started dating Kira Thompson, a pretty Ravenclaw girl who was also starting her sixth year, and also just happened to be a fellow prefect. They had both been vacationing in the same city in France over the summer, and one thing had led to another. Kira was a really nice girl, but Remus felt almost guilty for dating her. It was stupid of course, but he was still madly in love with Adriana, and he didn't think that it was fair for him to lead her on. The trouble was, he had never really had a serious relationship with a girl and didn't quite know how to break up with her. After all, she was a really sweet girl ...  
  
And this was how he entered his sixth year at Hogwarts. Completely unsure of what to do when he first saw Ri again after the two months they had spent apart, and uncomfortable with his relationship.  
  
Remus sighed as himself, James, and Sirius boarded the Hogwarts express. James and Sirius were prattling on about pranks they were planning, and Remus was keeping an eye out for Adriana. Then, on a sudden impulse he checked his watch and remembered "Christ, I've got to go to the Prefect's compartment! Catch you later guys." With that, Remus turned around and headed for the other end of the train. He had a meeting with his fellow prefects. He walked on, still failing to catch a glimpse of Adriana.  
  
When he was about halfway to his destination he was stopped suddenly when Kira grabbed his arm.  
  
"Remus! You headed to meeting?" She fell into step along side him as he continued walking. He nodded in reply and she looped her arm through his. "Great, we can walk together."  
  
The two chatted aimlessly as they made their way down, and Remus still guiltily watched for Adriana from the corner of his eye. They reached their destination, but before Remus could open the door he was stopped once again, this time by Peter Pettigrew, one of his closest friends.  
  
"Moony! Good to see you mate!" Peter smiled widely.  
  
"Good to see you too Wormtail," Remus nodded.  
  
"You're going for a meeting?" Remus nodded again in reply. "Well, I'll see you in our compartment later though?" Our compartment referred to the compartment at the very back of the train where the Marauders sat every trip.  
  
Remus was about to reply again when Kira's grip tightened on his arm, he looked down at her in question and realized what he was supposed to say. "No, actually ... I think I am going to sit with Kira." She smiled and he knew he had said the correct answer. "But I will see you later at school." And with that Kira and Remus entered the Prefect Compartment, leaving Peter alone as he headed to sit with his friends.  
  
He did not see Adrianna once the entire train ride, much to his disappointment.  
  
On the first night back at school, it was customary for the Great Hall to throw a great welcoming feast to welcome students back, as well as to conduct the sorting ceremony for the new first years. The sorting ceremony was solely responsible for deciding which house the first years got into, Gryffindor (for the brave), Slytherin (for the purest), Hufflepuff (for the peaceful), and Ravenclaw (for the smartest). Remus always looked forward to the welcoming feast.  
  
Remus, as the Gryffindor prefect who had been elected to get the passwords organized, had had to go to the Gryffindor tower before the feast. He had sent his fellow Marauders ahead of him to save him a seat, as he knew he was going to be late. But as he made his way down to the Great Hall from his dorm room, he noticed that he was not the only one in the common room.  
  
At first glance he was stunned to see a Ravenclaw in the Gryffindor tower and wondered how Kira had managed it, before realizing that this was impossible. It was then that his werewolf senses came in handy because he recognized the smell of the girl at once and his heart stopped as he made his way forward. She sat there watching him, a sad expression in her eyes.  
  
"Adriana?" He breathed when he reached her. "How'd you get in here?"  
  
She scowled but remained seated so that he towered over her slightly. "Michael Brooks told me the password," she shrugged. Michael was Hogwarts Head Boy and Gryffindor's head prefect.  
  
"Oh ..." was all he managed to say. He was too shocked to do much other than stare. Why had she taken on Kira's appearance?  
  
"Aren't you going to tell me to fix myself up so that I look normal?" Her tone was bitter and mocking and she finally stood. "Or is it that you find me prettier when I look like her?"  
  
And now he was completely confused. What was she going on about? "What? Why do you look like Kira?"  
  
"She's a pretty girl, isn't she?" She walked away from him, hands on her hips as she made her way to the fireplace.  
  
"I suppose," was all he could think of to say.  
  
She scoffed. "Well?"  
  
"Well what?"  
  
"Aren't you going to tell me to change?!" She turned and stared at him, looking furious.  
  
Remus opened his mouth to reply, but she cut him off. "After all, you're the one who is always telling me to be myself." She spoke the rest in barely a whisper, but she still sounded angry. "You're the only person who cares when I don't be me."  
  
He blinked as a sudden thought occurred to him "You're jealous?"  
  
She flushed and he instantly knew that he was right. Adriana was jealous that he had a girlfriend. He was suddenly, and inappropriately elated. This meant she had to care ... didn't it?  
  
This time as he spoke a smile crossed his face which caused her scowl to deepen. "You're jealous of Kira."  
  
Adriana scrunched up her face and her features changed so that she looked normal. Christ she was beautiful, with her dark brown eyes starring out at him and her brown curls falling past her shoulders. Even in anger he was mesmerized by her.  
  
"Nice theory Lupin." But her voice lacked conviction.  
  
"You are!" And then he made the mistake of laughing. His laughter didn't last long though, as the look she shot him would have burned him alive if looks could kill.  
  
"Oh... oh!" she stammered, "you're such a stupid git!" And with that she tried to storm out of the room, but he followed doggedly at her heels, happier than he had been in years.  
  
"Admit it Ri, you're jealous!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!" And they continued like that all the way down the stairs leading from Gryffindor tower. When they reached the charms classroom, halfway to the Great Hall, he ran into her as she stopped suddenly and turned to face him. She looked so mad that his smile grew wider. Remus knew that he must look stupid with a huge grin covering his face from ear to ear, but he didn't care. Adriana cared that he had a girlfriend, and she was jealous! This was progress.  
  
"Well ... so what if I am jealous?" She placed her hands on her hips again and stared up at him as he stood several inches higher than her. "You could at least stop gloating about it!"  
  
"I could, I suppose, but where's the fun in that?" He teased, teetering on the edge of danger as he knew that if he continued with this much longer she would probably slug him.  
  
But a slight smile crossed her face for an instance. "Give it a rest Lupin, at least until after the feast."  
  
Remus, still smiling like an idiot, put his arm across her shoulders like he had done a million times before, and forced her to continue walking. "Fine."  
  
They walked in the kind of comfortable silence that happens with old friends, and when they reached the door of the great hall, without even looking up at his face, she spoke one more time. "Wipe that smirk off or we'll never hear the end of it from Potter and Black."  
  
Together, they walked into the Great Hall. Thankfully, most people were too preoccupied with the last students being sorted to notice the two latecomers and they quickly took the seats closest to the Marauders. Remus sat opposite James and Sirius, who was flirting with Circe - Remus observed that she appeared to have lost a lot of weight over summer holidays – and Adriana took the seat in between him and Lily.  
  
They had arrived just in time to hear the last student, Zarrelli, Marissa, being sorted into Hufflepuff. Next came a short speech from Dumbledore, which Remus ignored as he was too busy thinking about Ri's reactions to listen.  
  
"Oi! Moony?" Remus started as he looked over at a very annoyed James. "Have you been listening to a word I just said?"  
  
Sirius turned his attention away from Circe, who looked thankful for the interruption as she joined Lily's and Adriana's conversation. "Naw, he couldn't have been otherwise he wouldn't have that stupid grin on his face."  
  
"You're right there Padfoot. He does look awfully pleased with himself." James said in mock concern.  
  
"Of course. But whatever could the reason be?" Sirius stroked his chin as one would a beard, pretending to ponder the situation. Peter laughed elatedly and clapped his hands at their performance. Remus rolled his eyes.  
  
"Does he perhaps have a lady love?" James teased; out of the corner of his eye Remus say Adriana blush, she had apparently been listening.  
  
Remus changed the subject. "So ... aren't you two going to badger me for news about the Gryffindor Quidditch team?" As one of Gryffindor's top prefects, Remus knew all about the new team tryouts and schedules and as both James and Sirius were on the team (James a seeker, and Sirius a beater) it was customary for them to harass him for news.  
  
James's eyes lit up. "News? What news, pray tell?"  
  
Remus noticed that Circe had turned to listen, as she too was on the team (one of the three chasers). He shrugged, deciding to leave them hanging just as the food appeared. "I don't like to talk while I eat." The two boys scowled at him in mock anger and Circe turned back to her conversation.  
  
Dinner went on as usual, ending with another speech from Dumbledore, and the four Marauders headed up to bed along with Lily, Circe, and Adriana. He did not get a chance to talk to Kira that night as she was busy with her prefect duties, but he didn't much care. Another silly grin came across his face when they reached the common room and Adriana noticed it and glared.  
  
He fell asleep smiling that night, for this was truly good news. Adriana was jealous of his girlfriend, and he was convinced that this year just might be his year.  
  
~*~A/N~*~ Thanks again to those who have reviewed! And I hope you like this chapter!! 


	6. Time to Talk

Over the next few weeks Remus realized that things were not going to go as well as he had thought they would on his first night back. In fact, if he had imagined a worst case scenario of how it was to be, he would not have even come close to reality.  
  
While he sought out every opportunity to talk to Kira about their relationship, the opportunities never came. Every time they were together she was always so sweet and so wonderful that he could never find it in him to break up with her.  
  
And Adriana had resorted to ignoring him completely. Something that hurt him so bad he thought his heart would break.  
  
In fact, the only time she had actually talked to him was to inform him that Circe was now dating Seamus Malloy. She had thought the news would have been of interest to him considering Sirius's new preoccupation with her. The conversation had lasted less than two minutes.  
  
Remus was stuck wondering what he was supposed to do, and feeling miserable the whole time. Why Adriana had finally decided to consider him when he was dating a nice, sweet girl was completely beyond his comprehension. He had at first thought that his having a girlfriend was the reason she now seemed determined to have him fawn over her again, but that was quickly ruled out. He had had girlfriends before, and from James and Sirius had told him about the train ride to Hogwarts, she had been interested in talking to him before finding out about Kira. He figured that it probably had something to do with him telling her that he loved her last year. That was the most logical explanation.  
  
But he was still left with what he was supposed to do. He wasn't even sure that he was supposed to do anything. He didn't know if Adriana really wanted to date him; she might just feel the need to have him worship her as he had before. After all, even if she hadn't known the depth of his feelings for her over the years, she would've had to have been stupid not to realize he cared more than a little.  
  
With these thoughts swimming through his head, Remus sighed as he made his way to Herbology. This class was one of his favorites, not because of the subject it taught, but because of who was in it. Both James and Sirius were in the class, along with Lily and Circe. Plus, it was a class that was shared with the Ravenclaws, so it was one of the few times that he got to be with Kira. He did genuinely care about her, and if it weren't for his infatuation with Adriana, he was sure they would be great together.  
  
Every class for the last three weeks had gone on without anything extraordinary happening, one day something odd happened. For on a Monday afternoon, right before the class began its double lesson, Remus was dealt a serious shock.  
  
Adriana had dropped her Ancient Runes class and had transferred in to Herbology. When she had walked in, she had smiled at him at first, and then seemed to remember that she was furious with him and turned away to completely ignore him.  
  
Remus decided that he had had enough. He decided that after class he was going to force her to talk to him and tell him what was going on. After all, they had not discussed Kira since their first night back, and he didn't think he could stand it much longer not knowing what she was thinking.  
  
After the teacher, Ms Ernst was finished telling them what the lesson for that day was going to be, she had asked them to split into pairs. Remus's first instinct was to go ask Adriana to be his partner, but just before he walked over to her to ask he was stopped by Kira, who had whispered shyly in his ear, "Be my partner?"  
  
He nodded and then, with one last look back at Adriana he had took off with Kira down to another end of the classroom that was occupied mainly by Ravenclaw students.  
  
The class went by with an agonizing slowness, and when it finally finished two hours later, Remus had to hurry to catch up to Adriana. He had reached her in the hallway as she was on her way to her History of Magic class. She had ignored him the three times he had called her name and didn't stop to talk to him until he grabbed her arm.  
  
"What do you want?" She asked, annoyed.  
  
"Hi," Remus began sarcastically, "I'm doing alright, thanks for asking. And you?"  
  
Adriana rolled her eyes and glared at him. "Cut it out Lupin, I'm going to be late for class."  
  
"Yes, you are." He stated simply as he dragged her into the classroom next to her which was conveniently empty.  
  
"Ooh! A prefect is detaining a student from class? That's against school rules." She mocked as he closed the door.  
  
"Ri," he began, but then realized that he really had no idea what he was supposed to say. An awkward silence ensued.  
  
Adriana started to make her way to the door but he stopped her by putting a hand on her shoulder. "Well, if you have something to say, then say it! I don't have the time to stand here and-" she was cut off from her sentence when he suddenly leaned forward and kissed her.  
  
It was an impulse that he instantly regretted.  
  
The kiss was short and had been fairly awkward. When he pulled back a second later she was staring at him in shock. He shifted nervously and shuffled his feet feeling like a total idiot. "Umm ..." he began, but he did not follow up.  
  
"Lupin?" She looked at him oddly. They stared at each other for a minute and he could feel his heart beat quicken. He was so in love with her and he wanted her to say something that would give him even the slightest encouragement.  
  
And then she began to smile, the first genuine smile he had seen from her since their first night back. It was all the encouragement he needed and he leaned forward and kissed her again, this time placing his hands on her waist as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
The best part was she kissed him back.  
  
He didn't know how long they kissed for, but he was so entrapped that he didn't even hear the door open.  
  
"Remus?!" a voice shrieked from behind him and he swirled around suddenly. He looked at Kira with a deer-caught-in-headlights expression. She was standing there in the doorway, incredulous, with a friend. And then he remembered. Kira and her best friend, Leona Burke practiced Transfiguration in an empty classroom during her spare.  
  
Cold dread filled him. This must be the classroom, he thought, seeing the obvious. Adriana looked from him, to Kira then mumbled something about having to get to class and ran from the classroom.  
  
Remus was frozen to the spot. He could do nothing but stare at Kira's livid face. Time seemed to stop and he could think of nothing to say.  
  
SMACK! She slapped him across the face, turned around and left followed by her friend. Fuck, Remus thought. How was he going to fix this one?  
  
~*~A/N~*~ Alas, some chapters suck worse than others and I am sorry :( ... well, I hope you enjoy this one any way! Thanks everybody who has reviewed!! I appreciate it greatly. 


	7. Adriana

Remus felt absolutely terrible as he went up to bed that night. Never in his life had he ever felt this bad. He couldn't believe what he had just done. He had meant to talk to Adriana, not kiss her. And what felt even worse was that he had done something so mean to Kira. He wasn't supposed to be the one who got caught up in messes like this. That was for guys like Sirius ...  
  
He breathed a deep sigh as he sat down on his bed. His stomach growled; he had avoided dinner so that he wouldn't have to face either girl. Left alone with his thoughts he tried to think of what he could do to fix things with both girls. After all, just because he didn't want to date Kira, didn't mean that he didn't value her friendship. But it was doubtful that she would speak to him for a while after that.  
  
Christ! He thought angrily. Why did girls have to be so bloody difficult? If only Adriana had realized that she liked him before he had found somebody. But she had been too keen on James to even think about him as anything more than a friend.  
  
The door to the dormitory opened and James and Sirius waltzed in, James laughing at something Sirius had said. They didn't say anything to him until they had made themselves comfortable, and then they turned on him like the Spanish inquisition.  
  
"Why weren't you at dinner?" James asked seriously, placing his elbows on his knees and resting his chin on his hands.  
  
Remus shrugged, debating how much he wanted to tell his best friends.  
  
"Yeah, Finn was asking about you." Sirius added.  
  
"Right," said Remus, curious now as to what she had wanted to say to him. "Well-"  
  
"It's about her isn't it?" James asked.  
  
"That's why you're locked up here alone in your room." Sirius, who had been pacing by the window, stopped and looked at Remus, curiosity etched into his face.  
  
"This is certainly looking interesting, isn't it Padfoot." James looked at Sirius with a smirk as he spoke.  
  
"Yes, yes it is Prongs. Looks like our friend Moony here is having some girl troubles" Sirius took a seat next to James and they both eyed Remus with a mischievous expression.  
  
They waited for Remus to say something, but he took to long in choosing his words. "Well ... is it about Finn?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Or Kira?" James piped in.  
  
"Or Finn and Kira?" Sirius said, while raising his eyebrows.  
  
Remus ran a hand through his hair, "All bets on the last one."  
  
"Ooh ... now this is going to be interesting." James smirked.  
  
"What happened?" Sirius asked, at least having the courtesy to try and hide his smirk.  
  
"Well ... Adriana has been ignoring me lately so I figured it was about time the two of us talked," they nodded in agreement "and one thing sort of led to another- "  
  
"Moony, you dog you," James mocked.  
  
"- and Kira caught the two of us kissing and slapped me." Remus finished, without missing a beat.  
  
"Ouch." Sirius said sympathetically. "What are you gonna do?"  
  
Remus shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea. It goes without saying that Kira is furious with me, and I have no idea what's going on with Adriana. Or even if anything is going on with her."  
  
"Take it from me Moony. Finn's been going crazy for you ever since we got back here. Now, I only know a bit of what happened last year-" Remus opened his mouth to explain but Sirius held up his hand and kept talking, "but whatever it was it sure had an effect on her. She wants you bad."  
  
"And you better take advantage of this, my friend. Cause if you don't you're gonna end up kicking yourself. After all, we all know how much you've liked her over the years." James said wisely.  
  
"We wish you luck." Sirius finished.  
  
Remus went to bed after their talk, still unsure of what he was going to do the next day, but knowing he had to do something.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The next morning, when he woke up, the first thing that he noticed was that Sirius was in an extremely bad mood. James was sitting on his bed, laughing hysterically at Sirius who was shooting him scathing looks. Peter still lay asleep.  
  
"Morning," Remus said as he got up and tried to smooth his hair down.  
  
"Morning Moony," James said, still laughing.  
  
"What's so funny?" Remus asked, looking from James to Sirius.  
  
Sirius scowled and said "Nothing." At the exact same time James spoke, "Padfoot's just discovered that he isn't God's gift to women."  
  
Remus chuckled to himself as Sirius threw a pillow that hit James in the face. "Bout time you realized that mate." Remus said good- naturedly as he started searching his stuff for clothes.  
  
Sirius scoffed "Bloody hell."  
  
"So, what really happened?" Remus asked, happy that he now had a chance to think about something other than what he was going to do about Adriana.  
  
"Bloom." Said James, causing another pillow to be thrown at his head, this one he managed to duck. Remus laughed out loud, so Sirius was upset about Circe.  
  
"Come on now Prongs. Let's hear what Padfoot here has to say." Remus said, knowing that pretty soon he too was going to get hit with pillows.  
  
"She's a merciless tease." Sirius pouted, sitting onto his bed.  
  
Remus hid a smirk, "Of course she is she's a girl. But I want to hear the part where you realized that you're not God's gift to-" he was cut off by a pillow in the face. James was laughing so hard he looked like he might cry.  
  
"I'm not that bloody arrogant you useless prats!" Sirius was livid  
  
"Course you are." James said, getting up and patting Sirius on the back. "It's part of your charm."  
  
Sirius glared up at James. "Well, you're just as conceited as I am."  
  
"Yup," James agreed.  
  
"You're both pompous gits, but that's why everybody likes you." Remus said earning a slight smile from Sirius. He stood up and walked towards the door, talking to Sirius and James as he left. "Now get ready for school."  
  
After showering and getting dressed, Remus woke up Peter and made his way down to the common room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Lily, Adriana, and Circe all sitting down on the couch talking. With a deep breath he walked over to them.  
  
As he made his way over he heard snatches of the conversation and realized that this was Circe telling her side of the story about what had happened last night with Sirius. He was curious, but figured it would be rude to eavesdrop. "Morning girls." He said, taking a seat across from them.  
  
He felt slightly odd in doing so, thinking that maybe Adrianna might have wanted him to get lost, but since he was still friends with Lily and Circe it made it alright.  
  
"Hi Remus," Lily said with a smile.  
  
"Lupin," Circe nodded at him, smiling but looking slightly distracted. He noticed that she was looking over his shoulder at the door, for Sirius perhaps.  
  
He turned his attention to Adriana who smiled beautifully at him. "Hey there Lupin."  
  
Remus smiled back at her and their eyes locked. He felt a stupid grin cover his face but he was just too happy to care. She wasn't mad at him anymore.  
  
"So ... what are you three talking about?" Remus questioned the girls.  
  
"Black is an ass." Circe said agitatedly. Remus laughed.  
  
"And bloody arrogant." He said, earning a questioning look from her. She was wondering how much he knew about what had happened last night.  
  
Lily decided to change the subject. "Should we get down to breakfast now?" She half stood. Circe looked once more at the door that lead up to the boys dormitories and then got up off her seat. "Let's go."  
  
Both Adriana and Remus stood up and began to walk out the door with Lily and Remus. Suddenly, right before they left, Adrianna spoke up. "Oh! I forgot my bag, Lupin? Come help me get it?" He nodded, wondering to himself why she didn't just go get it herself and then realized that she wanted to talk. Circe and Lily both snickered and went on. "Catch you later," Lily called over her shoulder.  
  
Adriana and Remus made their way over to the couch and grabbed her bag. Everybody was leaving the common room, on their way down to breakfast and nobody gave any attention to them. "So ..." Adriana began, looking up at him with a shy smile.  
  
"Right ..." Remus spoke, unsure of what to say. His heart began to beat hard against his chest. He didn't really want to talk about what had happened yesterday just yet.  
  
"The Hogsmeade weekend is coming up, isn't it?" She hinted, looking up at him from underneath her lashes coyly.  
  
"This weekend I believe," he said.  
  
"Alright ..." she said looking up at his face expectantly.  
  
He took the hint. "Want to go?"  
  
"Definitely," she said not even waiting until he finished asking her. Her face flushed with embarrassment and he grinned from ear to ear.  
  
"We better get down to breakfast." She said.  
  
"Yeah," Remus and Adriana started walking and with only a moments hesitation he took her hand in his and squeezed it. She smiled up at him and he was so happy he could have crowed.  
  
As they made their way down to the Great Hall they ran into Sirius, James, and Peter who were all running late and running to breakfast. Sirius's hair was still wet and James's shirt was inside out. Peter looked as if he had not even bothered to shower.  
  
"Moony, Finn," Sirius nodded at each as he slowed down and walked with them. His eyes glanced down at their joined hands but he smartly said nothing.  
  
James was mussing up his hair a bit as they entered the Great Hall. He too had seen the joined hands. They all took their seats, and individual conversations began.  
  
Remus was in a great mood for the rest of the day, and the only thing that kept him from jumping up and singing was that he knew he had to go talk to Kira. And that was a conversation he was not looking forward to. 


	8. The First Hogsmeade Weekend

That following weekend was the Hogsmeade weekend. It was also the weekend of Adriana and Remus's first official date. And even though he was ecstatic, he was also nervous as hell. All he could seem to think about was what if he screwed something up? Or said something wrong? Or she decided that she didn't want to date him after all.  
  
It was these thoughts that nagged his mind as he made his way down to the common room to meet Adriana.  
  
But there was also something else bothering him too. He had not had a chance to talk to Kira in the last few days and knew that she was still furious with him about what had happened. He had tried to talk to her, but she had blown him off completely. He knew he had to talk to her, and wanted to do so sooner rather than later so he could explain himself and hopefully still remain friends with her. After all, Kira was a great girl.  
  
Remus shook his head, trying to clear away the thoughts. He didn't need to think about Kira right now, he was already nervous enough. Adriana had agreed to meet up with him by the fire at 2:00 that day and it was almost time.  
  
He smiled when he got down stairs and saw that Adriana was coming from the door by the girls' dormitory with Circe. She looked so gorgeous that he had to concentrate on his movements so that he wouldn't forget to walk.  
  
Adriana's curly brown hair was hanging down loosely and she had modified it so that it was shorter in the front and longer in the back. She had also elected to put some purple streaks in various places. And when he got a good look at her face he saw that she had made her lips a bit bigger and redder, and she wore a light gold shadow on her eyes. She wore a pair of tan cargo pants and a pale yellow t-shirt that had a bright smiley face in the middle. She saw him and smiled.  
  
Remus walked over towards her. "Hey there Ri, Circe." Circe said "hello" back to him and then, after exchanging a meaningful glance with Adriana, excused herself and walked over to sit on the couch with Lily. Remus smiled nervously.  
  
"Lupin," Adriana spoke, smoothing her shirt down.  
  
"So ... ready to go?" He asked nervously. Adriana smiled at him and reached over to take his hand in hers. "For sure." And with that the two of them headed from the room and went to go wait in line so they could enter Hogsmeade.  
  
Remus was thankful that they had always been friends, and that conversation had always been easy between them, because his nervousness died away when they left the common room. Talking was easy with Adriana and the conversation never lagged throughout their entire date.  
  
They first went to the Three Broomsticks where they sat for an hour and enjoyed a few Butterbeers and then went on to look through a few shops and such. All in all, the day was going rather well.  
  
At least until around 4:30 when, while on their way to Honeydukes, they heard shouting from down the hill. Remus stopped abruptly in the middle of something he had been saying to Adriana when he recognized the voices of two of the people yelling. Adriana looked curiously at him as he muttered "oh no" and started to speedily walk towards the commotion.  
  
Adriana followed him, "What is it Lupin?" and together they rushed to the bottom of the hill where a group of students were standing in a half circle around two guys who were fighting. And sure enough, just as he had dreaded, were Peter and James, both yelling encouragements at Sirius who was currently punching Seamus Malloy, Circe's boyfriend. Ri gasped as Remus rolled his eyes and made his way to the spot where James and Peter were standing.  
  
Upon seeing Remus approaching, James spoke to him, "Oi there Moony."  
  
Remus didn't respond right away, just shot an annoyed look at him. Than, "Come on Prongs."  
  
"Come on what?" James asked as Remus pointed his wand at the fray.  
  
"We're going to stop this before a teacher comes and he gets into some serious trouble." He waited until he could get a clear shot at Seamus and then yelled "Stupefy!"  
  
Circe yelped and ran towards Seamus as he hit the ground from the force of Remus's spell. She glared at Sirius before turning her attention back to her boyfriend.  
  
Most of the crowd left when they saw Remus, who was a prefect, come into the area, and the few who remained left at James's urging. Sirius stood up off the ground and dusted himself off. He then turned on Remus.  
  
"What the hell did you do that for Moony?!" He yelled. Sirius was covered in dirt and his normally elegant hair was messy and stuck up in places. His shirt was slightly ripped and his face and arms were already starting to darken with bruises.  
  
Remus, who was equally pissed off only shouted back at his friend. "Oh shut it will you and act your age!"  
  
Sirius stepped closer to Moony and seemed about to say something more when they were interrupted by a very angry Circe. "God damnit Black! You stupid, arrogant-"  
  
"Malloy had it coming Bloom." James said, sticking by his friend and crossing his arms as he stared down at Circe. She glared at him and Sirius when she finally noticed that Adriana was standing back behind the Marauders, looking as if she wanted to be anywhere else.  
  
Remus turned to look at her as well as Circe and Seamus made there way past the Marauders and started to walk up the hill. "Are you coming Ri?" Circe asked looking over her shoulder.  
  
Adriana looked helplessly between Remus and Circe, torn between two friendships. Finally, after a slight shrug and a muttered "I'll see you later" directed at Remus she turned around and walked the rest of the way with Circe.  
  
Remus sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "Great," he muttered to himself. The date had been going terrifically up until that point, and he was infuriated with Sirius for inadvertently ruining it.  
  
James seemed to realize what had just happened and gave Remus a sheepish look. "Sorry Moony. Didn't mean to ruin your date."  
  
Sirius didn't seem to feel as bad and growled "if you'd just minded your own business than nothing would have been ruined."  
  
Remus snapped and turned on his friend. "Yeah? Well what business did you have beating up Circe's boyfriend?"  
  
Sirius started to speak, "He had it-"  
  
"Oh come off it! Don't tell me he had it coming! You've been acting like a jealous prat for days, I'm sure you were looking for any opportunity to jump Malloy."  
  
"That's not true!" Sirius bristled and both James and Peter stood staring in shock at the two boys yelling at each other. The Marauders rarely fought with one another.  
  
"Just leave the girl alone, will you?" Remus spat. He was sick of this little game that Sirius had going on with Circe because he considered her to be one of his good friends and didn't want to see her get hurt. And Sirius was notorious for using and leaving girls, not even caring how many hearts he broke.  
  
Sirius barked a laugh but didn't say anything. James cleared his throat and looked from Sirius to Remus. "Why don't we get going?" He said wearily, not wanting to have anyone yell at him. Remus sighed and turned to walk back towards Hogwarts, the Marauders all following.  
  
Neither Sirius or Remus spoke again for the rest of the night because Sirius was still furious with him for stopping the fight. This made Remus mad, he hadn't wanted to piss off Sirius, but as the sensible one of the group he sometimes just had to stop the stupid situations the other members got themselves in. Besides, even though he knew that Malloy had deserved a good kicking – James had filled him in on what had happened – Remus knew that the main reason Sirius had wanted to fight was because of Circe.  
  
And to make matters worse he had not gotten to speak to Adriana again for the rest of the night. He sighed to himself before going to bed. Oh well ... he could always talk to her tomorrow.  
  
~*~A/N~*~ Hope you liked this chapter! For more information on Circe and Sirius, please check out my other story, "Story of a Lonely Guy" ... the two stories are kinds intertwined as they go on at the same time and all that ... well ... thanks for reading! 


	9. A Chat Between Old Friends

The day after the fight when he got up Sirius was still not talking to him. But by this time Remus wasn't that upset by it. He had the feeling it was more about Sirius being mad in general than Sirius being mad with him. It would all blow over soon, he was confident of that.  
  
He had been a little nervous when he went down to the common room that day, because being in the common room meant seeing Adriana, who was always in there with Circe and Lily. He made his way down slowly after having his shower, wanting to talk to her and also apologize to Circe for Sirius because he knew Sirius would never do it himself, he was too arrogant.  
  
Sure enough, when he got down there his eyes were instantly drawn to the couch by the fireplace where Lily, Circe and Adriana sat, Circe talking heatedly as the other two girls listened, nodding their heads in all the appropriate places. He took a deep breath, ran a hand through his hair, and made his way towards them.  
  
"Hey girls," he smiled and took a seat across from them in a fluffy brown armchair. They stopped talking and all looked at him, Adriana smiling just a little at him.  
  
He frowned slightly when he saw her. Her hair was a deep red that almost looked violet, and her eyes were a turquoise blue instead of the brown he loved so much.  
  
"Lupin," Circe said, attempting a smile even though she was still annoyed with the Marauders. After all, they were four peas in a pod and it was impossible to be upset with just one, you had to hate them as a whole. But he didn't pay much attention to her greeting, or Lily's as Adriana suddenly laughed, noticing his frown. She knew what he was thinking. She scrunched up her nose and squinted her eyes in concentration, her hair changed to a deep brown with ringlets, and her eyes sparkled brown. He smiled back at her, thinking to himself that she was so much more beautiful like this.  
  
"How are you doing?" Lily asked politely, smiling at him. He liked Lily, she was always nice to everybody – except James – and she was always rational. In a lot of ways, she was like him. They were both the calm, responsible ones of their cliques and that gave them a certain bond.  
  
"Alright," he shrugged. He wasn't exactly good, but that was just because of Sirius.  
  
"What do you want?" Circe asked rudely, gaining her two stern glances from Adriana and Lily. He didn't take it personally; he would be peeved if something like yesterday had happened to him. She was probably still seething that he had sent a stunner at Malloy instead of Sirius.  
  
Remus shrugged again. "Just thought I'd come say 'hi', and apologize for what happened at Hogsmeade."  
  
Her expression softened a little. "Why do you need to apologize? You're not the arrogant wanker who -"  
  
"I know Padfoot can be a real ass at times," he said, always the sensible and diplomatic Marauder, but not completely willing to blame Sirius for everything. After all, Seamus had deserved it. Circe scoffed and Adriana looked amused. He plowed on before she could say anything, "but he really didn't pick a fight with Malloy on purpose, he just gets a little worked up sometimes."  
  
"All the time." Circe returned, crossing her arms in defiance.  
  
"Don't worry Lupin, Circe's really not as mad as she's acting" Adriana said with an amused smile. He smiled back at her, catching her eye. Circe huffed but didn't say anything. He thought that Adriana was probably right. Besides, even before Hogsmeade, he had definitely noticed something between Sirius and Circe.  
  
Lily glanced between Adriana and Remus, and then looped her arm through Circe's. "It was nice talking to you Lupin, but I promised Circe I would help her with some homework-"  
  
"What are you talking about?" Circe interrupted, clearly confused as Lily dragged her into a standing position.  
  
"So we're going to take off now. Talk to you two later!" Lily shot a meaningful look at Circe and the two girls walked off towards the girls dorms, Circe muttering a loud "Oh!" as she realized what Lily was about.  
  
A moment of silence ensued and Adriana blushed a little, leaning forward and resting her elbows on her knees. "Hi," she whispered sweetly and he knew he was completely smitten. She looked so gorgeous as she sat there. Her hair had fallen forward when she had leaned forward, and it framed her face with only a few strands still tucked behind her ears. Her eyes were so intense as she looked at him, a fathomless depth as they sparkled. Her lips were curved into a small smile and he wanted to kiss her.  
  
"Hi," he whispered back.  
  
"So yesterday ... was fun." She said her tone as sweet as honey.  
  
"Most definitely," he whispered back, feeling a wide smile cover his face. He took a deep breath and gained courage. "Perhaps we could do it again sometime. Sometime soon?"  
  
Her small smile widened and she nodded her head, tucking a curl behind her ear.  
  
It was funny how, even after so many years of friendship, she still made him nervous. Still made his heart rate increase and his face flush. Even though he wouldn't even think to tell her for a long time, he loved her. Loved her more than anything.  
  
It was also funny how she appeared nervous around him. That was new. She had always been completely comfortable with him, but he figured that her nervousness was a good thing. It meant that things had definitely changed and developed between them.  
  
"What are you thinking?" Adriana asked after a moment's silence. She looked into his eyes intently, a teasing smile tracing her lips.  
  
His desire to kiss her increased, and on an uncharacteristic impulse he leaned forward and kissed her, showing instead of telling her what he was thinking. She smiled against his lips causing him to sigh. He pulled back after a sweet moment and looked at her, memorizing every detail on her face.  
  
"I like it when you do that," she said, almost shyly.  
  
"Me too." Remus said, getting up from the chair and moving to sit next to her on the couch. He put his arm around her and she leaned against him.  
  
They talked comfortably, as old friends do, and for the hour that they spent together, he forgot about his fight with Sirius. Forgot about his lycanthropy, and how his life would never be normal. Instead, he thought about Adriana, and how perfect and content he felt whenever he was around her.  
  
If this wasn't love, he didn't know what was.  
  
**A/N** _A special thanks to my reviewers, you're what keeps me going :) Hope you enjoy this chapter ... I know it's not great but I needed something to go between the last chapter and my next one! Keep reading and reviewing!! Thanks :) _


	10. A Very Lucky Girl

For the first time in years Remus woke up completely happy. For once, it seemed as though he had everything. He had three incredibly cool friends (the Marauders), several other friends, and he had Adriana Finn. He was, of course, the first person awake that day and he got up and got ready quietly. It was Monday morning and he wanted to get down to the Great Hall early.  
  
The only thing in his life right than that wasn't perfect – aside from his Lycanthropy – was the fact that he still hadn't talked to Kira yet. And that was the exact reason he was going to breakfast early. Kira was always one of the first Hogwarts students up and she always went down to the dining hall to study before it got crowded. Remus made his way down to the Great Hall briskly, and with purpose.  
  
Sure enough, when he got entered the dining area, the first person he saw, and the only person sitting at the Ravenclaw House Table was Kira. Remus took a deep breath and made his way towards her. She didn't notice him approaching as she was completely engrossed in an Ancient Runes text book and she jumped at the sound of his voice. "Hi Kira."  
  
When she recovered from her shock she looked up into his face, her features etched with anger and hurt. He instantly felt like a total jerk for doing what he had done to her. She deserved more respect than that. "What do you want?" She asked coldly, not even bothering to be polite.  
  
Remus shifted his weight from one foot to the other and gestured at the door with his left hand when he answered. "Can we talk? Please."  
  
She stared up at him apprehensively and than, sweet girl that she was, nodded slowly and stood up. Neither spoke as the two made their way out of the Dining Hall, which was now slowly filling with people. They stopped walking when they reached an empty corridor and Remus turned so that he was facing her. Kira stared at the ground not looking at him, her hands in her pockets. He sighed and wished that they could still be friends. She was a wonderful person.  
  
"I'm sorry." He said the words earnestly, feeling ashamed of himself for even having to say them at all. "I really am very sorry."  
  
Kira shrugged pitifully, still refusing to look at him. Her eyes began to shine a bit and he thought that she might cry.  
  
Remus hoped she wouldn't cry and kept talking. "I care about you and I never wanted to hurt you. I'm sorry that-"  
  
"I get it," Kira said, her voice small. "You're sorry."  
  
"Listen, alright," he pleaded with her, wanting her to understand. "What happened between Ri and me," she scoffed a bit at the mention of Adriana but he continued on. "It wasn't supposed to happen like that and I am really sorry that it did. I should never have been that disrespectful and cruel to you, you didn't deserve it. If I could take back my actions I would, but I sincerely hope that you can forgive me. You are a great person and I would really hate to lose you as a friend."  
  
Kira looked up at him again, her eyes searching his, seeking to see if he really was sincere. "You mean that?"  
  
He nodded and held his breath, waiting for her to speak.  
  
"It really hurt to see you kiss her." She said, sounding pained. But she took a deep breath and smiled slightly at him. "Well ... I accept your apology."  
  
"Friends?" Remus asked her, raising his eyebrows in question.  
  
She nodded slowly. "Yeah. Friends."  
  
He grinned widely at her and together they made their way back to the Dining Hall. Right before they reached the door she stopped him with a hand on his arm. "You really care about Adriana, don't you?"  
  
He stared at her for a second and then answered her quietly. "I really do," Remus spoke as earnestly as possible.  
  
Kira nodded once more and a sad look crossed her face. "She's a lucky girl." And with that she left him alone in the hallway. He stood there for a moment before heading in and sitting with his friends, taking the seat closest to Ri. And even though he felt terrible that Kira was hurt, he couldn't help but feel somewhat relieved that he had finally talked with her. After all, now that he finally had Adriana Finn, he wanted to focus his attentions on keeping her.

**A/N - sorry for the short chapter and the long time no update! Hope you enjoyed this one and keep reading! After all, there is so much more to come and this is just the tip of the ice berg!! :)**


	11. In The Shrieking Shack

Remus and Adriana were sitting in his dorm room. It was the only place they could really be alone, what with the Hogwarts grounds covered with people all enjoying the nice weather and students studying for their OWLs and NEWTs. They had now been dating for several months and everything was going well. Or, at least it appeared to be going well.

Even though he knew that she knew about him being a werewolf and that she didn't care, he was still very reluctant to talk about it. His lycanthropy was not something he liked to share with people, and he was still terrified that the more she learned about his darker side, the less she would care about him. Every time she tried to bring it up he would become uncomfortable and change the topic which annoyed her because she felt that he didn't trust her. She tried to convince him that she too had to undergo prejudice because she was a Metamorphmagus but he was unconvinced.

Metamorphmagi did suffer from prejudice, but they were not considered half-breeds. A Metamorphmagus could still go out and get any job they wanted while werewolves were discriminated against to the extreme. And no matter how much she tried to convince him that she did, Remus knew that she didn't understand. Nobody except for other werewolves could ever understand.

But it wasn't just her constant desire for him to share his 'problems' with her. There was something else too. Every week before the full moon Remus became more bestial. He became rougher and wanted her so much it was painful. His animal instincts became sharper and he could hear and smell things much more intensely. He was embarrassed of this and how it made him act and he tried to stay away from her whenever he was affected, but after the first time it happened she refused to let him.

And as they sat there on his bed, Adriana curled up against his side, her hand on his chest, Remus felt desire so strong it almost knocked him out. It was the day before the full moon. He could hear the calm beat of her heart so loudly it was as if there was a bass drum next to him on the bed. She smelled like vanilla and strawberries and the scent of her nearly drove him insane. She had refused to wear her hair as it should be and the curls were gone, it was a dark brown that tapered into violet in the ends and flipped up. Her eyes were still the same though and they stared at him adoringly as she continued telling her story about the time she pretended she was her grandmother so she could freak out her cousin.

Her hand moved a bit on his chest and his heart beat quickened. Remus really wanted to ask her to leave before he did something he'd regret. She seemed to sense his discomfort and she stopped talking and shifted so that she was looking up at him. Her eyes moved across his features in concern as he breathed heavily. He held his whole body rigid against the urge to roll on top of her and take her right then and there.

"Lupin? Is everything alright?" She asked, brushing a strand of purple from her face. He swallowed hard and shook his head. "What is it?" her voice was tinged with worry.

"It's just … I think you should leave." His voice cracked a bit as he spoke and he ignored the look of hurt that crossed Adriana's face. But the hurt didn't last long, Adriana was well aware of how he got whenever a full moon came by.

A serious look covered her features. "Do you really want me to?"

Remus thought about that for a moment. No. He didn't really want her to leave, but she had to before he hurt her, and while he would never mean to, it was his the animal in him that would do it.

She read his thoughts and whispered "You won't hurt me." She brought up her hand and brushed his hair away from his face. Remus's jaw clenched and he shivered at her touch. God, how he wanted her.

He couldn't hold himself back any longer and in one swift movement he slid his arm behind her and pulled her closer to him, kissing her intensely. She sighed against his lips and he deepened the kiss, sliding his hand through her hair.

Remus brought his hand slowly up her side, savoring the feel of her against him. He could no longer think, but if he could've he would have pulled away. He heard her pulse speed up and he groaned, moving his hips against her. He pulled his mouth away from hers and began to kiss her neck, feeling her pulse with his lips.

But then he heard footsteps on the stairs. _Sirius and Circe._ He could hear them coming as they made their way to the door and he quickly pulled himself off Adriana, moving so that he lay next to her again, half-seated so that they couldn't see how aroused he was. He just hoped he didn't look too guilty. Adriana looked at him in confusion and hurt for a moment, but before he could explain Sirius opened the door and walked in arrogantly, followed by Circe.

After a stunned second Adriana smiled sweetly at them and ran a hand through her hair. He could still hear her heart beat, it was racing.

"Hey!" Sirius said as he took a seat on his bed. "We thought we'd join you guys in here, hope you don't mind."

Remus shot Sirius a look that he was sure could have scorched even the best of men if looks could kill. Sirius smiled mockingly back at him, knowing exactly what he had intruded upon. After all, this was Sirius, he had snuck countless girls up here to 'talk' in the last two years countless times.

Circe looked uncomfortable for a moment as she eyed the room. Remus considered for a moment that the two had come up to 'talk', but realized that that definitely wasn't the case, Sirius had known he and Adriana were up there. He mentally shrugged.

After moments more indecision Circe decided to follow Sirius and took a seat next to him on his bed. Sirius moved his arm so that it rested behind her.

A silence took over the room and Adriana seemed to be calming down now. He too, now that there were others in the room, managed to hold himself in check and school his own heartbeat down.

"So …" Sirius attempted to break the silence.

"What were you two up to?" Adriana asked, looking at Circe. Circe nodded slightly and he saw Adriana raise an eyebrow out of the corner of his eye. Remus knew that they had just communicated something between the two of them, but for the life of him he couldn't figure it out. Girls had a strange way of knowing what each other was thinking.

"We were playing chess. Then we decided to come and visit you guys." Circe said simply after her little exchange with Ri..

Remus frowned slightly. He hoped that Sirius was treating Circe with respect and not like he treated other girls. Circe was their friend and she didn't deserve to be another one of Sirius's playthings. Of course, Circe was dating Seamus and was also smarter than most of the girls Sirius fooled around with which probably meant she wasn't stupid enough to 'succumb to his charm'. But he had noticed them hanging out a great deal more, and he knew that Sirius was infatuated with her.

Remus cleared his throat and decided to speak. "Right. Great." He shifted slightly and put his arm around Adriana who giggled.

Another silence followed and it was once again Sirius who broke it. "So Finn, what're you doing for the summer?"

Adriana shrugged and Remus felt the movement against his side. He swallowed again. He wondered to himself if Adriana would come and visit him during the summer. After all, a lot could happen in two months. "Not sure yet. You?"

Circe turned her face to look at Sirius and he didn't speak for a second. Remus raised a brow in question at the odd sight that was a besotted Sirius. He almost laughed when he saw Sirius notice Adriana and himself staring at him and Sirius cleared his throat. "I'm living with the Potter's now, so Prongs and I will probably think of something cool to do."

"You two will be up to a lot of mischief, no doubt." Circe teased.

Remus felt bad for his good friend who had just recently moved out of his own house and in to the Potter's. He knew Sirius was upset that his family and him didn't get along. "I feel sorry for Mr. and Mrs. Potter." Remus joked. "Not only do they have to deal with Prongs, but they'll be left to keep you out of trouble too."

Adriana laughed at his joke and Sirius and Circe followed suit. They all continued to talk about summer vacation and the upcoming exams for a good half-an-hour when James suddenly burst into the room, looking absolutely furious. He flopped angrily onto his bed before noticing that anyone was in the room. He mumbled a quick "hello" and then lay down disgruntled.

Remus held back a laugh at his disgruntled friend. "Alright there Prongs?" Remus asked.

"Peachy." James replied, his words muffled against his pillow.

Adriana and Circe exchanged a look and both smiled at a silent joke that only they knew.

"Everything went well in the library then?" Sirius asked, suppressing a smirk and looking over at Remus. Remus knew he was missing something, but he couldn't figure out what.

James grunted and Circe snickered. James sat up at scowled at her. "What are you laughing at?"

Rather than answering his question, Circe asked one of her own. "Is Lily still down there?"

Comprehension dawned and Remus suddenly grinned, Sirius started to laugh and James's scowl deepened. "I wouldn't know."

Everybody laughed again and James flopped back down on his bed, muttering insults at them under his breath.

Remus decided this would be a safe time to leave as he wanted to talk to Ri. He whispered in her ear, "Wanna go for a walk?" She nodded slightly and they both stood up. "We'll see you guys at dinner." Remus said as he took Adriana's hands his and the two left the room.

They made their way down from Gryffindor tower and were walking down the hall when Adriana, suddenly apprehensive, dragged him into a nearby classroom. He got even more confused when Adriana shut the door and walked across the room taking a seat on a desk.

"Ri?" He looked around suspiciously. "What's going on?"

"I wanted to talk to you?" Adriana said, swinging her feet in the air as she stared at him.

Remus suddenly felt very suspicious. "We couldn't talk in the hall?"

Adriana tilted her head a bit before speaking, seeming to have to think about what she was about to say. "Not about what I want to talk about."

"Umm …" Remus instantly knew he wanted to be anywhere but there. He knew what she wanted to talk about without her having to even say anything. She wanted to talk to him about his lycanthropy, and that was a subject he really wanted to avoid. He opened his mouth to tell her how he felt.

"I know that you hate speaking about it," Adriana rushed her words, interrupting anything he might have said. "But we can't tiptoe around the subject forever Lupin."

He took a deep breathe and fixed his gaze on the floor. She didn't understand – couldn't understand how hard it was for him to be what he was. How hard it was to live with the knowledge that your life would never be normal. How much it hurt whenever he had to transform. These were things that only other werewolves could ever understand. He was so afraid of speaking about him being a werewolf with her because he knew that she could never love him if she knew. Truly knew about what he really was.

"Just … just talk to me. Please." He looked up at her from underneath his bangs and saw how sad and nervous she looked. And because he loved her and couldn't deny her anything, he sighed and moved so that he sat down in the closest desk to him. "Don't you think it would be better if we just … talked about it?"

Remus laughed sardonically "Doubt it."

"Come on Lupin. If we're going to be together we should be able to talk about this. I really like you, and it really bothers me that you don't trust me enough-"

"This isn't about trust." Remus interrupted, needing for her to know that he did trust her.

"Well, what is it then?" Adriana hoped off the desk she had been sitting on and walked to where he was sitting. "What is it? Are you afraid? Embarrassed?"

He raised an eyebrow, as always astounded at how well she knew him.

Adriana smiled as she knelt in front of him. "There is nothing to be ashamed about. I've known for years about you and it has never changed how I felt about you. And I know a lot about werewolves, or have you forgotten that Defense Against the Dark Arts is my best subject?"

Remus finally gave in. They were going to have to discuss it sooner or later, so he may as well get it over with. But this logic didn't make the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach go away. He sighed and looked at her, starring into her beautiful chocolate eyes. "What is it you want to know?"

Adriana hesitated a bit, obviously trying to decide which question to ask first. She took a deep breath and spoke, her words just above a whisper. "When did you get the bite?"

Disturbing memories clouded his mind. Terrifying images of a young boy and a dark shape with dripping, sharp fangs. He shivered. "I was six." He didn't elaborate on that. Couldn't revisit that experience without breaking down.

She seemed to understand and decided to ask another question. "What - Do you - Where do you go to … transform?"

"The Shrieking Shack" Remus mumbled, not quite sure if he should really be telling her this. He didn't want to break Dumbledore's trust, but he also knew that Adriana felt she needed to know this.

"But it's haunted," Adriana said, followed by a loud "Oh" when the truth dawned on her. Remus was the real reason the townsfolk feared the Shrieking Shack. She looked over at the wall for a moment, and then turned back to face him. He had to strain to hear her voice when she spoke this time. "Will you show me?"

Remus didn't know what to say. Show her the Shrieking Shack? He opened his mouth to protest but no sound came out. What explanation could he give for not wanting her to see it?

"Please," she whispered, taking his hand in hers. "I need to understand." She pleaded so earnestly that he couldn't say no, so he nodded.

They got up in silence and left the room after Remus whispered in her ear, "I know a shortcut." Together they walked down the hallway, Remus feeling his heart slam against his ribcage in nervousness. When they reached the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack outside on the school grounds by the Whomping Willow Adriana shot him an anxious look. When he was absolutely sure that no one was looking (which wasn't that difficult because nobody ever wanted to be anywhere near the dangerous tree) he grabbed a stick and pressed it against the knob on the trunk. The wailing arms stopped swinging long enough for Remus and Adriana to make their way down the hole.

She clutched his hand as they walked down the path, shifting closer to him.

And then they walked into the Shrieking Shack, Remus embarrassed at the thought of Adriana seeing the destruction he had caused. But she did not react as he had she would. She did not look disgusted at the torn drapes or at the shattered furniture. She did not sneer at the stains of blood or the gnawed wood. Instead, a look of unparalleled sorrow covered her face and he could see that she was holding back tears.

He stood rooted to one spot as he watched her make her way around the room, trailing her hands lightly over everything she passed. She stopped at the one and only window and fingered the curtains. "I had no idea …" she said, finally looking at him. Her voice tinged with sadness.

Remus shrugged, at a loss for words. This room represented his worst side. It was a symbol for everything wrong in his life, everything wrong about who he was. And here he was, standing inside it with the one girl he would always love.

Adriana walked towards him, stopping when she stood a foot apart. "Does it hurt?" She asked almost hesitantly. He didn't need to ask what she was referring to.

Remus breathed a deep sigh and fixed his gaze at the clawed board just over her shoulder. "Yes" he answered. "So much I can't stand it." _So much he wanted to die. _

He started at the feel of her touch as she slid her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest. "I wish I could fix it for you." Her words were muffled against his shirt.

He blinked rapidly against the prickling in his eyes caused by unshed tears. More than anything in the world he wanted to be normal. But there was no point in voicing that wish, it would never happen.

Adriana moved back from him and dropped her hands from his waist. There were two tears running down her cheek and he swallowed hard. Even in sorrow she was perfect.

He clenched his hands into fists to keep himself from touching her. It was a full moon the next night and he didn't want to hurt her.

She brought one of her hands up slowly so that it rested just below his heart where she knew a scar was. She brushed her hand lightly across it and he shivered, his heart slamming against his chest. She leaned forward and lightly kissed the spot, stroking her hand slowly down his chest until it rested at the waist of his jeans.

"Ri …" he didn't know what he wanted to say, but he knew that he had to get out of there and away from her or he was going to do something he'd later regret.

She silenced him by putting a finger to his lips. His palms got sweaty and he released the fists and shoved them into his pockets. The urge to kiss her was painful in its insistence. She brushed his hair out of his face and he knew his control was going to break.

"We should go," he croaked his throat dry and constricted with need.

She smiled at him and she looked so uncertain and so shy that all he wanted to do was bring her to him.

"We don't have to …" she whispered, her hand cupping his cheek. "Nobody would ever have to know."

God, she couldn't possibly know what her words did to him. He was sweating and his heart beat was going so fast he was afraid he might have a cardiac arrest. And she wanted to stay!

Remus breathed in deeply again, breathing in the scent of her. He began to explain to her why they had to leave. "Ri … if we don't go something-" Adriana cut off his words with the touch of her lips against his.

He lost control and, bringing his hands from his pockets, crushed her to him. He thrust his tongue into her mouth and kissed her with all the need that was bubbling inside of him, his animal instincts taking over.

Suddenly, as if waking from a dream he realized what he was doing and pushed her away, stumbling backwards from her as he did so.

She stared at him in shock, her breath coming fast. Because of his werewolf senses he could hear each labored intake of breath. Could hear her heart as it slammed hard against her chest. "Let's go," Remus said, breaking the heated silence.

He took a step towards the door but when she didn't move he stopped walking.

"You can't keep pushing me away Lupin," Adriana said quietly, but in the silence of the room it sounded like she had screamed the words.

He brushed a shaky hand through his hair. "Ri …" Remus wanted her so bad it hurt and all he knew was he had to get as far away from her as possible. He really didn't want to hurt her. He loved her too much.

"You never want to talk about it." Adriana was frustrated and she walked over and took a seat in the broken chair, a gesture that meant they would be there for a while. "Every time we do anything you freak out! What is it … don't you want me?"

He couldn't believe her insecurity. Of course he wanted her. She was the most amazing person he had ever met. "I just … it's hard." He didn't want to tell her that he was afraid. Afraid of what might happen if they went too far. Afraid that he might scare her, or worse, hurt her.

"Am I not attractive enough?" He laughed in disbelief. She was the most beautiful girl in the world. But when he saw the expression of hurt in her eyes he stopped laughing.

"Of course not." He walked over and crouched down in front of her, keeping far enough away so that he didn't touch her.

"They why? Why is it that you don't want me?" Another tear fell down her cheek.

Remus's voice was laced with longing. "I do want you."

"Then have me." Adriana whispered. He stared into her eyes and couldn't hold it back any longer. Dropping to his knees he leaned forward and kissed her, nibbling her bottom lip slowly.

He brought his hands up so that they were cupping her face as he kissed her and Adriana wrapped her legs around his waist and slid closer to him on the chair, hooking her arms around his neck. He groaned as he broke away, trailing kissing along her jaw as he made his way to her ear, nibbling on the love and whispering "I need you."

She withdrew her hands from around his neck and took her shirt off. He groaned again and kissed her harder, putting his hands on her hips and dragging her closer to him still.

Their kiss only broke long enough for Remus to get his shirt off and when they finished taking off their clothes he only said one more thing to her. "I don't want to hurt you." He was still terrified that he might and she read the fear in his voice.

Adriana smiled at him, cupping his face and brushing her thumb across his lips. "You won't." He kissed her forehead lightly and kissed her again before pulling her closer to him and standing up so that he held her in his arms. He walked towards the bed and placed her down on top of it, unable to hold back any longer.

For the first time in his six years of using this room, Remus felt content for once to be in it. And when they lay there in the bed afterwards Remus knew, without any shadow of a doubt, that he loved Adriana more than anyone or anything in the world. He knew that he would always love her, until the day he died.

**A/N: Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but this one is really long so hopefully that makes up for it. And if you don't like long chapters, sorry but I am trying to get as much done on this story and my Sirius one before I go away for the summer! Well ... I hope you liked it, and thanks to all who have reviewed (I really appreciate it!)**


	12. Another Year is Through

Adriana and Remus continued to be in a very serious relationship as the year progressed. For them, the end of sixth year came far too soon. After all, the end of sixth year meant that they only had one year left at Hogwarts. After that, the group of them would all have to go their separate ways.  
  
The Marauders were frantically packing on the last free day before the Hogwarts express was to leave and Circe and Adriana had decided to join the boys in their room and keep them company.  
  
"If only you had listened and packed before, like we had tried to tell you." Adriana said, shooting a playfully condescending look at Remus. He smiled back at her as Sirius barked a laugh.  
  
"Always the haughty one, aren't you?" James asked, turning to scowl at her as he pointed his wand at a pile of clothes causing them to magically fold themselves and fly into his trunk. Circe laughed at this extravagant display.  
  
Remus turned back to his packing after staring at Adriana for a moment. He sighed again, noticing that he still had so much to do. He followed James's example and began to magically fold his clothes as he thought back on this year.  
  
So much had changed and happened that he knew year six would definitely go close to the top on his list of favorites. Not only had he and his fellow Marauders complete their invention, "The Marauder's Map"; he had also finally gotten together with Adriana. And to top off the entertainment section of this past year, he had also got to watch one of his best friends and the biggest ladies' man in the school finally fall for a girl. And boy had Sirius fallen hard.  
  
"Bloody hell! Where's my pocket knife?" Sirius yelled placing his hands on his hips as his eyes scanned the room.  
  
"Couldn't tell you mate," James answered his friend without looking at him.  
  
"I'm going to go check the common room," Sirius said, leaving the room hastily. Remus cast a quick glance at Circe who's smile vanished when Sirius left the room. The two had been at odds lately and Sirius was, for the most part, trying to pretend that she didn't exist. He sighed, wishing that his friend would just get over himself and forgive her for whatever she had done. Whatever it had been, it couldn't be that bad.  
  
"I suppose I should go help him look," James said as smiled appreciatively at his now packed trunk. He turned slowly and left the room, Peter deciding to tag along with him.  
  
That left just Circe, Adriana, and Remus. After only a short moment, Circe smiled widely and stretched her arms out in an extravagantly fake yawn. "I'm getting awfully tired. Hope you don't mind Ri, but I think I'm going to go take a nap." Adriana laughed, the noise sounding like music, as Circe nudged her friend and made a hasty departure from the room.  
  
Remus smiled wolfishly down at Adriana as he walked over and sat down next to her on the bed. "Alone again."  
  
"Naturally," Adriana shifted on his bed, laying her head on his shoulder. They sat in a comfortable silence for several minutes before he heard Adriana murmur three words very quietly.  
  
His heart stopped a bit and he thought for a moment that he had misheard her. He turned his head so that he could see her but she did not meet his eye, a blush tingeing her cheeks.  
  
"What did you say?" He asked, holding his breath and waiting for her reply. Just as he had waited years to hear her say the words.  
  
Adriana turned her face and looked up at him seriously. "I love you."  
  
Remus grinned widely and leaned forward, kissing her deeply. When he broke the kiss he pulled back slightly, keeping his lips on hers. "I love you too."  
  
He kissed her again, feeling completely and utterly content. This was definitely one of the happiest years of his life.  
  
**A/N: Sorry! I know this chapter was short, sappy, and kind of dumb. But I really needed some filler and I really wanted to get the point across that Adriana has fallen in love with Lupin (finally!) Besides, I figure that they deserved some sap before the seventh year which is going to be ... well, you'll have to read on to find out what seventh year is going to be :P ...... ****Please Read and Review, and I am going to try and post a few more chapters before I leave!**


	13. The First of the Last

September 1st marked the first day of the Marauders seventh and final year at Hogwarts. For all the seventh year students it was a time to be happy, as well as a time to be sad and nostalgic. It marked the end of an era in their lives. And while the Marauders pretending to be ecstatic about leaving, deep down they all knew that they were going to miss the hallowed halls of Hogwarts in which they had ruled. They were even going to miss the teachers.  
  
But out of all the wonderful things that Remus loved about Hogwarts, the thing he was going to miss the most was seeing his best friend's everyday. He knew they would still talk, they were all too close to let their relationship completely fall apart, but talking and seeing each other every so often wasn't the same as seeing the people you cared about everyday. James put it the best when he said 'Graduation is just like an extended summer holiday only with different seasons."  
  
Remus sighed as he heaved his bags into an empty compartment on the Hogwarts express. This would be the last time he voyaged to the school, he thought to himself as he gazed out the window, waiting for his friends to come aboard.  
  
He had arrived at the station early only to find out that there would be no Prefect meeting on the train this year, instead they would meet with Professor McGonagall later that night. Remus laughed to himself. James had been selected as Head Boy - James Potter! Who could believe that James Potter would be Head Boy? - Which Sirius had teased him mercilessly about. Everyone had thought that Remus would get the honor, but he wasn't at all sorry.  
  
"Moony! Been looking everywhere for you!" Sirius exclaimed as the door to the compartment slid open and James, Sirius, and Peter all entered. Remus smiled widely at his friends.  
  
"Smart man," said James as he took the seat nearest to the door while looking up and down the hallway in search of someone (probably Lily). "Thought you'd come and save us a seat than?"  
  
Peter shut the door and earned a glare from James. "Sorry mate," Peter said apologetically as Sirius laughed out loud.  
  
"Seriously Prongs, could you get any more desperate? Starring down the corridor for a glimpse at your dear flower-" Sirius was cut off by a quick smack in the stomach from a glaring James.  
  
Oh how Remus had missed his friends over the summer. He leaned back in his seat smirking as he watched Sirius and James playfully beat each other while hurling insults back and forth. Peter clapped his hands in glee.  
  
The four boys were soon interrupted when the compartment door opened again. Both Sirius and James stopped mid punch and starred stupidly at the four girls in the doorway. Remus smiled.  
  
Adriana, Circe, Lily, and Kelsey all made their way into the compartment. Adriana immediately took the seat next to Remus and she smiled up at him as he put his arm around her. Kelsey, who looked nervous as always, timidly sat down next to Peter and shyly smiled at everyone in the compartment. Both Circe and Lily stood in the middle of the compartment, Circe desperately trying to catch Sirius's eye who had decided to ignore her completely and stare out the window, and Lily looking annoyed because it looked like she was going to have to sit next to James.  
  
"Bullocks!" Circe muttered, not caring that everyone – except for Sirius – was now eyeing her strangely. She determinedly walked over and stood in front of Sirius and James. "Mind scooting down a bit Potter?" She asked, sitting down in between the two friends as James began to laugh hysterically, smirking at his best friend. Adriana and Circe all looked up at Lily who was starring at James's chest in complete shock, obviously looking at the Head Boy pin that was attached to his clothes.  
  
"They made _you _Head Boy?!" Lily exclaimed, and then blushed when she realized how rude she sounded. Remus suppressed a laugh as James frowned. If anyone other than Lily had been so disbelieving he would have had some rude things to say right back, but since it was Lily he just looked disappointed.  
  
"So it would seem," James said coolly, earning a shocked look from everyone in the compartment. James had never been 'cool' to Lily, and Remus wondered briefly if his friend was over her.  
  
James had really matured over the summer and since the end of sixth year he had stopped acting like such a prat all the time (except when it came to his best friends and Snape). Maybe with this newfound maturity came the end of James Potter's love for Lily Evans.  
  
Remus sincerely doubted it.  
  
Suddenly the train started moving, jerkily at first, and Lily was sent flying into James's lap. Adriana burst out laughing and Remus felt the movement against his side and smiled. Lily, blushing furiously, crawled off of James's lap and took the seat next to him. Both Head Boy and Head Girl sat awkwardly as they stared at the floor in front of themselves. James was definitely not over her, Remus thought to himself.  
  
Everyone was quiet and Remus looked around the compartment at his friends. Peter and Kelsey began to speak to one another quietly and Lily joined in. Sirius still sat rigidly, anger radiating from his body as he stared out the window. Remus frowned. He didn't know exactly what, but something had happened before the train ride as they left Hogwarts last year between Circe and Sirius and he knew that whatever it had been it had upset his friend greatly. Remus's lycanthropy allowed him to hear Circe as she whispered quietly to Sirius, trying to get his attention.  
  
Remus decided it would be rude to eavesdrop and he turned to look at Adriana whom he realized was smiling up at him. "Hi,"  
  
"Hey there Lupin," Adriana whispered as she settled herself closer against his side.  
  
He had missed her immensely over the summer, even though they had visited twice and sent each other owls virtually every night. He loved her so much, and was glad that a new school year had started and he would now be able to see her every day.  
  
"Did you have a good trip getting here?" Remus asked, as he breathed in the scent of her hair. She hadn't altered her appearance at all which made Remus happy as he hated it when she changed herself. Her beautiful brown curls were pulled back in a pony and he brushed a stray one off her cheek.  
  
Adriana opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted suddenly. Everyone turned to look at Sirius who was standing up now and finally looking at an extremely shocked Circe.  
  
"Sod off will you? Just leave me the bloody hell alone!" Sirius didn't spare another glance at anyone as he turned abruptly and walked out of the compartment, slamming the door behind him. Circe stared gaping as everyone turned their eyes to her. While at first she looked like she was about to cry, anger soon sparked to life in her eyes and she stood up angrily, following Sirius.  
  
After the door closed gently behind Circe, Remus instantly looked to James who turned to look at him at the same time. Sirius's behavior came as a complete shock to them. Instantly, Remus wondered if whatever it was that had happened last year was much more serious than either he or James had thought. It must have been if Sirius was treating Circe so horribly, after all, Sirius was in love with Circe.  
  
"What was that all about?" Kelsey spoke up for the first time, and than lowered her eyes so that she was starring at the floor when everyone turned to look at her.  
  
"Black is such a prat," Lily said as she looked to the door, as if willing to see Circe and Sirius.  
  
James turned and scowled at her, another thing that never happened. "He is not, it's bloody Bloom who's the problem."  
  
Remus, although he wouldn't say it out loud because his girlfriend was Circe's best friend, agreed with James. Circe had been really hard on Sirius and had basically strung him around through all of sixth year. And while he considered Circe a friend, if she was going to treat Sirius like that, it was about time that Sirius got over her.  
  
"Of course you would think that," Lily glared at James who only glared back. "You're just like him."  
  
"I'd rather be just like him than anything like you," James said before turning away from Lily's shocked face and striking up a conversation with Peter.  
  
Remus was extremely shocked for the second time that day. If things were as they appeared, James had finally given up on Lily, and he was not trying to hide it.  
  
Adriana coughed in the face of the awkward moment and Remus looked from James, to Lily, and than finally to Ri. "That was odd," mouthed Adriana and Remus nodded.  
  
The door to the compartment slid open again and Remus opened his mouth to welcome back Circe and Sirius when he was suddenly surprised by the people in the doorway. It was not Circe or Adriana coming back to the apartment as Remus had expected, but three of the least likely people to ever stop by the Marauders compartment.  
  
Severus Snape, Alexia Dreyfuss, and Marcus Zalphin all stood in the door way, glaring scathingly at the Marauders.  
  
"Having a good time?" Sneered Marcus, as he eyed the compartment with a look of absolute bored disinterest. Remus saw Marcus watch Adriana out of the corner of his eye and his hand instantly went to his wand.  
  
Snape, Dreyfuss, and Zalphin were all in seventh year in the house of Slytherin and none of them were particularly well liked by the Gryffindors. Both Sirius and James deeply loathed Snape, and while Marcus wasn't nearly as bad as the rest of the Slytherin house, he was still an annoying jerk. Alexia was an evil girl who never hesitated to get people into trouble, she and Marcus were dating, but the two rarely hung around Snape who usually kept to himself.  
  
Now that Remus thought about it, why were they hanging out with Snape?  
  
"We were," James said, mimicking the haughty bored look that Marcus was using, and doing a much better job of it. He arched a brow, as if waiting for them to try anything.  
  
Snape sneered and Remus noticed that he had his wand gripped tightly. He was obviously afraid that James was going to hex him while he also appeared to be resisting the urge to attack James.  
  
"Can we help you?" Adriana asked, annoyance evident in her voice as she glared at Alexia. Both girls hated each other. Alexia hated Adriana because Ri was a Metamorphmagus, and Adriana hated Alexia because Alexia was a "dumb, unimpressive, stupid whore".  
  
Marcus turned so that he was facing Adriana and he smiled slowly at her, silkily speaking to her, "I'm sure you could," Remus's grip tightened on his wand and his knuckles went white. He was so sure that Zalphin was hitting on his girlfriend and he had to tramp down the urge to hex him.  
  
"Doubt it," Adriana said scathingly, putting her hand on Remus's thigh to show that she was taken. Remus smiled as Marcus looked down at Ri's hand and scowled.  
  
"Where's your other half?" Spat Snape as he glared at James, not daring to take his eyes off him in case James decided to attack.  
  
James laughed mockingly and tilted his head. "Why? Afraid we're going to ambush you _Snivellus_?"  
  
"Shut up Potter!" Snape said, bringing the hand that was clutching his wand higher up in a threatening gesture.  
  
James, pretending to cower in fear which brought a laugh out of Peter, spoke "Ooh, I'm so scared."  
  
Snape seemed to be about to say something when Marcus suddenly turned around. "Let's leave, this isn't nearly as amusing as I had thought it would be."  
  
Snape glared once more and backed out of the room, obviously not wanting to turn his back on James. As Marcus left the room he put his arm around Alexia. He stopped in the doorway and turned to look once more at Adriana. "Maybe one day you can help me Finn ... I'd definitely appreciate it." He winked at her and closed the door behind them.  
  
"That stupid, slimy, wanker! I ought to hex-" Remus's tirade was stopped when Adriana kissed him lightly on the lips. He stopped glaring at the door and looked down at her, releasing his grip on his wand.  
  
"Ignore him," Adriana whispered up at Remus.  
  
Lily laughed once and everyone turned to look at her. "That's got to be a first," she said, laughing again.  
  
"What?" Kelsey asked Lily, as everyone looked at the redhead while she continued laughing.  
  
"James Potter and Severus Snape, both in a room together and neither one hexing the other? Must be some kind of record." Lily answered, laughing again and looking at James.  
  
James smirked and looked down at Lily. "Do I get a prize?" He asked teasingly, for once giving up an opportunity to ask out Lily Evans.  
  
Lily shrugged, appearing confused that he hadn't asked her out. James always asked her out.  
  
The rest of the train ride went on in peace, although neither Sirius or Circe returned to the compartment. Remus sincerely hoped that they had made up and come to some sort of agreement between the two of them.  
  
And when the train ride ended and the group of Gryffindors made their way towards Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Remus smiled sadly to himself. This was going to be their last year, but while it was destined to be the last, Remus vowed that it was also going to be the best.

**A/N: I made this chapter a long one in hopes that it would make up for the lack of chapters that I am going to post for the next two months. Hope you enjoy it ... and pay attention to Marcus Zalphin .. he will definately be appearing later on whether you love him or hate him ... foreshadowing!! Thanks for my lovely reviewers!!**


	14. Quidditch Fights and Aconite

Remus was baffled when Adrianna walked into the common room, a deep scowl on her face, anger and frustration radiating from her. After all, she had just come from Double Potions, her favorite class, so why was she so angry. "What's wrong?" He asked as she walked over and flopped onto the seat next to him on the couch.

She didn't look at him but her scowl darkened. "Marcus Zalphin was just assigned as my lab partner. For the entire year." She glared into the fire and then turned to look at him.

Remus frowned. Marcus Zalphin was an arrogant jerk who never once stopped to hide the fact that he was interested in Adriana. This was not good. "Isn't there any way-"

"I already asked Professor Smyth," Adriana cut him off, anticipating his question. "He said that 'In the real world people have to deal all the time will others they don't like. So suck it up.'" She mimicked his former Professor's voice perfectly and Remus knew that once Smyth decided on something, there was no going back.

"Well …" Remus thought of another idea and voiced it even though he knew there was no way she'd agree to it. Oh well, it was worth a shot. "You could always drop out of Potions."

Adriana smirked at that. "I did consider it for all of three seconds. But Lupin, it's my favorite subject. Besides, if I don't take it they won't admit me into Auror training."

"So you have decided than?" Remus asked, looking intently at Ri.

"There was never really any choice. I love potions and I have to take it. I guess I'll just have to deal with that prat for the year." She smiled reassuringly up at him, noticing the worried look on his face. "It's only one year."

"A lot can happen in a year," he whispered back, unsure of why he was so … unsure.

She leaned forward and kissed him lightly, he could feel her smile against his lips and he smiled back. "Nothing we can't handle."

Remus opened his mouth to reply when he was interrupted by two loud and angry voices as James and Sirius walked into the room, each wore a similar scowl.

"Why don't you just mind your own damn business for once Prongs? You don't have to put your two cents in on every subject under the sun!" Sirius growled at his friend in frustration. The boys were having another inconsequential fight and both Remus and Adriana rolled their eyes. This fight, along with every other one they had ever had, wouldn't last long.

"I'm just trying to help you arrogant jerk. And we both know that you could use my help!" James replied to Sirius, annoyance crossing his face as he glared at his best friend. The two sat on the chairs closest to Ri and Remus.

Remus smiled, "What are the two of you fighting about now?"

"Yeah, which girl?" Adriana asked, leaning into Remus who placed his arm around her.

Both Sirius and James turned and looked at the two, seemingly as if just noticing them. Each wore a similar expression as they asked "What?"

Remus raised an eyebrow. "Over the last two years almost every time the two of you have gotten into an argument it has been about a girl."

James laughed as Sirius spoke out. "We're talking about Quidditch."

"Quidditch?" Adriana laughed, as if the excuse was absurd. "What about Quidditch then?

Both boys tried to answer simultaneously.

"Prongs is trying to convince me that –"

"Padfoot here doesn't want to try out some new strategies –"

"- I need to practice these completely idiotic tricks -"

"- That I came up with over the summer which will help in our winning streak." James finished.

"- Which I really don't think will help at all. Really, they're just a waste of time." Sirius finished right after James.

Remus burst out laughing. "That has got to be the stupidest argument you have ever had."

"Ah, but you forget," James started speaking, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms confidently. "The time in 4th year when Sirius and I got into a fist fight over who played seeker on that Canadian Quidditch team. The Flying Victorians."

Sirius laughed too, "Oh yeah! I remember that! And we were both wrong too."

"Professor Smyth had to split the two of us up! And you had a bloody nose and I had a –"

"- Black eye. I remember that. But do you remember the time in 2nd year when we beat each other up over the label on chocolate frogs?" Sirius asked all his anger at James gone.

"Now that was a dumb fight. We didn't talk for a week." James smirked at the memory.

Ri, who had been staring at them, reminiscing about the years they had enjoyed burst out laughing and Lupin smiled down at her. He loved Adriana so much and always had. And he loved to see her laugh …

James cleared his throat, sensing that a moment was arising between Ri and Remus. "Any way, we'll leave you two to your conversation and go up to the dorms to continue discussing my genius strategy." James rose up out of his chair.

"Genius strategy? You mean your hair-brained scheme that's going to have the entire team thinking of you as a slave driver?" Sirius followed his friend to the stairs leading up to the boys' dorms.

"You said tomato, I say –"

"I say that you're insane." Sirius's was the last voice they heard as the two boys went up to the dorm, leaving Adriana and Remus chuckling in their seats.

A minute or so after James and Sirius left Adriana turned her face up to Remus, looking at him with a serious expression. "You know Lupin, Zalphin won't ever come between us. Nothing will."

"I know Ri. I won't let anything." She smiled at him and his tendency to always say the right thing and leaned forward to kiss him.

The next day, Adriana sat in stilted research with Marcus Zalphin. They had been given a lengthy essay and a visual project on famous and valuable Herbs which had to be worked on by both of them and was due in one month. This project also required a lot of out of class involvement and that was something Ri was definitely not looking forward too. Remus was not going to be happy about her spending outside time with Zalphin.

But as she read and researched she experienced an epiphany. She read page seven of _Burberries 17th Edition Mystical Herbs and Legendary Plants_ over again, and then a third time to make sure that what she was reading actually made sense. Reading it a fourth time made her sure.

The page talked about a plant that was only found in the darkest of dark woods. It was cultivated by centaurs and was usually planted in clusters. It was a strange plant known as aconite, and while many of the most skilled potion masters knew of its existence and of its potential magic, few knew what its magical properties were. The only beings in existence that knew all it did were the centaurs who planted it.

But all the signs were there. Each property that was considered in theory would work marvelously. Adriana smiled widely, a plan already formulating in her mind. This would do very nicely.

**A/N: So so sorry for the long delay in updating. I was backpacking in Austrailia for the summer and then got back in September just in time to start my final year of High School and have been having SO MUCH homework and actual work. I promise I will try and update sooner and more frequently!! Once again, sorry for the delay and hope you like this chapter. Pay close attention to the chapter title. It might show up again :P**


	15. Broken pt 1

When Adriana snuck up and out of bed that night she was determined. She knew exactly where she was going and what she was looking for, and she was going prepared. She cast a charm of protection about herself and was armed and dangerous, carrying her wand. Ri, even though she knew the many things that went bump in the night, wasn't scared as she trekked into the Dark Forest. She had her mind set and she was going to succeed, and nothing would stand in her way.

Halfway through her mission, as Adriana made her way deeper into the forest where she knew she had to go she heard the crack of a twig which sent shivers down her spine. The hairs all stood up on the back of her neck as the sound of heavy breathing filled her ears. She froze in her tracks, terrified but unable to move. Knowing that if she didn't move soon she could get seriously hurt.

Slowly she forced herself to turn around. A large creature stood ten feet away from her, its body hidden by the darkness and shadows of the trees, while its wide yellow and hungry eyes were illuminated by the brightness of the moon. Sharp hairs stood tall on its body as it raised itself up to its full height, staring at her with the intensity of the Devil. Adriana shivered again, fear so severe that she was paralyzed with it. Her body held the weight of stone for that breathless moment when their eyes met. He was the hunter and she was the prey.

The moon moved in the trees and a gasp freed itself from Adriana's throat. She knew those eyes, even when they were changed. The moment of recognition became a moment of weakness and the werewolf too advantage of it. As it stalked silently towards her - its eyes never losing contact with hers – Adriana managed to regain control. She gripped her wand tightly in her hand and used her seven years of lessons to cast a spell. Any spell that she could think of. She tried two before it made its way right in front of her and then tried a third; a stunner.

The spells just seemed to bounce off its thick fur and as she narrowed her eyes, racking her brain for something, anything that would work the werewolf reached her. Before she could even draw another breath it reached out and slashed her twice with its dagger like clothes. Searing and instant pain filled her mind. It lashed out again, this time hitting her with a strength that knocked her ten feet away from where she had been standing. Adriana felt another blinding flash of pain as blood drummed in her ears and heard the faint noise of crunching bone. She screamed out, desperate for help, but doubtful that any would come.

A rush of adrenaline coursed through her and she tried once more to use her wand after stubbornly refusing to let it go. She tried another spell as it moved towards her, knowing in her heart that it wouldn't work. It seemed to smile at her as it closed in, savoring the fear in its victim's eyes. She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see Remus when he killed her.

Adriana could feel it as it drew nearer, stepping closer and closer until it was right in front of her. It howled and the sound was one she knew that would haunt her for eternity. The irony of this entire night struck her then and she began to laugh hysterically.

A different snarl from another animal filled her ears and her eyes opened in disbelief as a large black dog leapt forward, knocking the werewolf to the ground before he could deliver another blow to Adriana's crumpled form. Another animal rushed forward into the fray, blocking Remus' path to her. She sat stunned, seeing something familiar but completely unable to place what it was. After a moment that seemed to last a lifetime Adriana managed to scramble to her feet.

She had no idea where her good fortune had come from, but she wasn't going to sit there and wait to see the outcome. She managed, just barely to get to her feet and run for her life. She didn't stop running until she cleared the Dark Forest, afraid to turn back while she still felt the Devil on her heels.

When she finally stopped running Adriana collapsed and began to pray. If there was ever a God she hoped that nothing horrible would happen to her strange protectors. Or to Remus …

**A/NMore to come soon. I already have the next chapter written but I am not sure if I will post it just yet. I might wait just until 'Story of a Lonely Guy' gets caught up with this one. There is a lot of stuff that is relevant in both stories so I hate to have one ahead of the other. Hope you enjoy this one, even if it is a little short.**


	16. Broken pt 2

Remus came to in the Shrieking shack after passing out from the pain of his transformation from werewolf into human. His bones ached and his entire body was on fire. He fought to remain conscious and slowly lifted his body from the floor so that he was sitting, groaning deeply in pain. He blinked several times against the light, trying to control the swimming in his head. When his eyes finally adjusted to the light he saw both Sirius and James starring at him, both looking extremely upset.

His first thought was that he had attacked one of them and when he licked his lips and tasted the irony-tang of blood he felt sick to his stomach. Without saying another word he leaned over and vomited on the floor, unable to control the urge. When he had finished, James pointed his wand and muttered "Scourgify" and the vomit was cleaned from the floor in an instant.

Remus wiped his mouth, still feeling sick and terrified that he had hurt one of his best friends when he noticed that Peter was missing. What if it had been Peter that he had hurt? What if he was seriously injured or … dead?

"Alright there Moony?" James asked soberly.

Remus couldn't bring himself to speak at first but shook his head, finally attempting to stand. He stumbled a bit as he rose from the ground but managed to stay standing. "What happened last night?" He croaked his throat sore along with the rest of his body. He couldn't bring himself to ask if he had hurt anybody.

Sirius and James exchanged a dark look and Remus felt his blood turn to ice. _What had he done?_

"Are you guys ok? I didn't bite anybody? What happened?" Remus was desperate to know what had happened, but at the same time he dreaded it more than anything.

"You scratched me a bit, but it's nothing" Sirius said, unconsciously touching a hand to his chest where Remus assumed the wound was. He thought he might be sick again.

James took a deep breath, and spoke his next words in a rush. "But there is something else." He looked incredibly sad.

"What is it?" Remus said, his voice trembling. "Was it … did I hurt Wormtail?"

"No" Sirius said, staring at the floor, not wanting to look Remus in the eye.

James dragged in another deep breath as if preparing himself for something terrible. "It was Finn …"

Remus's eyes widened in shock and for an unbelievable moment he thought that his friends were playing a cruel joke on him. It took him a second to realize that this was not the case, while the Marauders often played pranks on one another joking about him harming Adriana was not something they would do.

"That's impossible," he breathed, trying to think of how he could have possibly harmed Adriana. He could think of no explanation and just stared stonily at his friends.

Sirius finally looked at him Remus was frightened by the intensity of his stare. "She was out in the dark forest-"

"What the hell was she doing there?" Remus interrupted shocked at this information.

James shrugged in answer; obviously neither boy knew the answer to the question. Sirius continued his explanation. "Well, you got away from us for a second and when we caught up with you, you had her cornered.

Remus sunk to his knees on the floor in grief. If he had hurt her seriously he didn't know how he would ever forgive himself.

"You didn't bite her, we're sure of that." James reassured him, coming over and sitting on the floor with him.

Remus looked from face to face, knowing that there was more. He waited, feeling as if his insides were being torn apart by sadness.

"But there was …" Sirius's voice broke for a second and he cleared his throat. _Something was terribly wrong. _"There was a lot of blood on her robes. We think you must have scratched her or something."

Remus shut his eyes tight, not wanting to have to face this. He prayed with all his heart that she was alright. If she wasn't … he didn't know what he would do.

"She was alright Moony. Peter took her back to the school and then went to go to classes. We thought it would look to suspicious if we all missed class …" James trailed off. Remus couldn't give a damn if things looked suspicious, he needed to see her.

"I want to see her," he said, his voice sounding pitifully weak, but he didn't care.

James and Sirius both exchanged a look and than Sirius reached into his robes, pulling out the Marauders map. Sirius muttered the key words and stared at the map for a moment before handing it to Remus.

Remus stood once more, staring at the map intently until he found Adriana's name. And with one last look at James and Sirius he headed from the room to the last place he would have ever thought to look for Adriana …

* * *

It took Remus ten minutes before he arrived at the door to the 7th year boys' dormitory. With a nervous breath and a quick hand touching the stitch in his side, Remus opened the door. He saw Adriana half-sitting, half-lying on his bed and he faltered in his walk towards her bed, closing the door slowly behind him. She was so pale, her face was white as a sheet and her lips had lost all colour. Her hair had turned into a silvery white and her eyes a sallow blue. In the back of his mind Remus remembered that these were the symptoms that a Metamorphmagus suffered after losing a lot of blood. He thought he might be sick again.

Adriana smiled weakly at him and moved slightly in her position on the bed. She winced painfully at her attempt at movement and Remus felt the prickle of tears in his eyes. He closed the gap between them and dropped to the floor in front of her, staring at her with anguish in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he cried.

She touched his hair and began to speak. Her voice was so detached that the sound coming from her mouth was eerie. "You know, it's funny." She began, and he had the suspicion that she was delirious from the pain. He had to get her to Madam Pomfrey soon …

"Did you know that you're a Razorback Melinka?" He nodded, recognizing the name of the type of bread of werewolf he was. "Did you know what is so special about that specific kind?" He shook his head, knowing that he needed to get her help but too stunned at what she was saying to do it.

"The special thing about the Melinka is that their hides are so thick, and the hair so strong that no one spell can penetrate them. It takes the well coordinated action of at least five wizards to bring one down using a spell …" her voice trailed off into a strange laugh that chilled his blood. "When you came at me … I thought I would die. You know?"

He couldn't take it anymore; he couldn't sit there and listen to what she had to say, knowing it would kill him if he did. "Ri, we have to get you to the hospital wing," he whispered, his voice breaking. God, please let her be alright. He stood up and reached for her arm to pull her up but she jerked it away, as if only now noticing that he was in the room with her.

"NO!" She shrieked the word in the same eerie tone. Remus stood in shock. "I'm fine." She said, calmer now that he wasn't touching her.

"You're not," he protested, feeling worse than he had ever felt before. She needed help. "Adriana? You've lost a lot of blood," his voice trembled "we need to get you to the hospital wing. We have to make sure you're ok."

She looked up at him and for a second he saw a spark in her eyes. "If we go to the hospital wing you could get expelled Lupin."

"I don't care!" He threw up his hands in desperation.

"I do!" She returned, stubborn as always.

"Please," he pleaded, dropping to his knees once more. "Please Ri … I can't let you … I need to make sure you're ok." He felt a tear fall down his cheek and he saw that she too noticed it. She gave in and nodded slightly.

He got up and helped her off the bed. As she lifted her arm to wrap it around his neck for support he saw what he had done. Seven long gashes streaked across her side and a piece of her rib was sticking out from under her skin. He felt sick again and wondered at how she was strong enough to stand the pain.

Thankfully, there were no students to see them - everyone was in class - as they made there way in silence down to the Hospital Wing. They reached it in fifteen minutes and by the time they got there Adriana had passed out and was leaning against him limply.

When she first spotted Remus, Madam Pomfrey smiled slightly; she was used to seeing him the day after a full moon. But her smile died the instant she saw the grim look on his face and the seemingly lifeless body of Adriana hanging from his side. She gasped and rushed forward, using her wand to transfer Adriana to the nearest bed. Remus said nothing, just watched, the tears streaming down his cheeks reminding him of rain.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked, stricken as she began to apply various ointments to Adriana and collect potions from a nearby cupboard.

Remus shut his eyes. "I don't know exactly …" he said, his voice burdened with the anguish of his soul. Pomfrey didn't ask anymore questions, only got to work on Adriana.

After a minute he collapsed in a nearby chair, staring intently at the one and only girl he had ever loved. He pleaded with God to make sure she was alright, and knew that he would have given his life without a moment's hesitation to be sure that nothing happened to her.

After an eternity, Madam Pomfrey turned to look at him with a weary smile. "She's alright Remus … Don't worry." And she stood up from her perch beside Adriana. "I'm going to have to fetch Dumbledore now …" He nodded in reply and she smiled once more at him, walking away to the Headmaster's office.

Remus rested his elbows on his knees and stared at the sleeping form of Ri. Thanks to the blood replenishing potion that Madam Pomfrey had given her, her hair was back to brown, but her skin was still a sickly ashen.

He watched her, not moving, feeling a mixture of grief and relief so strong that he thought the strength of it would kill him. And then her eyes fluttered slightly and her gaze found his. Several more tears escaped his eyes and ran down his face, splattering onto his knees.

Dumbledore entered the room, followed by Madam Pomfrey. "Remus," Dumbledore said, looking from Adriana to him. His tone was gentle, not accusing as Remus had suspected. Above all, his Headmaster seemed concerned. "What happened?"

Remus opened his mouth to answer, but was stopped short by the hoarse croak of Adriana's voice. "It was my fault, Headmaster." Remus started and all eyes turned to her. Although every word seemed to cost her a great effort, she continued speaking. "I followed Lupin to the Shrieking Shack. I was curious to know where he went every month …"

Remus swallowed hard. She was lying to protect him, even after he had almost killed her. "Is that so?" Dumbledore asked, and Remus knew that he didn't believe Adriana.

Adriana nodded slowly, "Yes Professor Dumbledore." There was a pause, and then she added as an after thought, "I'm sorry."

Madam Pomfrey looked suspiciously between the two but did not say anything. When Dumbledore spoke it was with finality. "Now, I realize that while you were seriously injured, Poppy assured that you will suffer no ill effects. However, I do beg of you to keep this incident to yourself. After all … Remus has managed to keep his secret for the last six years; it would be a shame to have it out in the open now."

Adriana nodded once again. Dumbledore looked as if he wanted to say more, but he just smiled slightly and turned to Remus. "You are excused from today's lessons." And with another look at the two students, he left the room, gesturing for Pomfrey to come with him.

Adriana and Remus stared at each other in silence. Remus had no idea what to say. His body still ached from the transformation, but the physical pain, which had settled into a dull numbness, was nothing compared to the emotional agony.

While the Marauders had been venturing out into the Dark Forest on full moons for two years now, they had never before come across danger. And now it seemed that he had come close to killing Adriana. It was something none of them could have anticipated and now it was something he was going to have to live with forever.

"Lupin?" Adriana croaked, her voice sounding hoarse and in pain. He jerked himself out of his thoughts and pulled his chair closer to her so that he could hold her hand.

He asked, "does it hurt?" A stupid question, he thought. Of course it hurt …

She nodded at him, still looking him in the eyes intensely, as if afraid that if she blinked she would lose him.

"I'm sorry …" He didn't know what else there was to say. He squeezed her hand a little and they sat there in silence. Neither speaking, the moment was too intense. Besides, they would have time to talk later, time to figure out how this had all happened.

But for now, they would just sit there. Alone in the silence, each suffering their own pain. Each terrified to leave this time where it was the two of them alone.

**A/N: In order to clear up some confusion I thought I would leave this little note. Adriana did have a reason for going into the Forbidden Forest and while I have delibrately not revealed it yet, all will be revealed. The entire plot of this story has been mapped out and any unanswered questions will be answered in the last few chapters. Hope you're enjoying this! Please Review!!**


	17. Back to Before

Much to everyone's shock – aside from Sirius, James and Peter who all saw what had happened that night in the forest – Remus Lupin and Adriana Finn broke up that day. Adriana had been scared the night before. She had always known what Remus was, but had never truly realized what kinds of effects it would have on her. Remus understood that, he respected that. And when he offered her space and time to let it all sink in he was definitely being sincere. He loved her.

But he had not been expecting space and time to translate into a break up.

And he had definitely not been expecting her to begin dating Marcus Zalphin one month after they broke up.

Now, if anyone asked Remus honestly if he thought that he and Adriana would stay broken up he would've answered with a vehement "Definitely not!" But as the time passed in seventh year, Remus began to doubt his own conviction. Sure, they still talked, but not like they used to. They never talked about personal thing anymore, they only really conversed about school in strained and uncomfortable conversations that he cherished because they were the only contact he had with her any more. When the group all got together they would talk, but it wasn't the same, probably never would be the same.

She seemed to be doing everything to avoid him, and ever since that night she had completely immersed herself in her potions homework. Only he knew it wasn't really homework, the books she was reading weren't even covered in the Hogwarts NEWTs curriculum.

Remus sighed as he watched Adriana read one of her many 'school books' on difficult herbs for potions and their magical properties. She was scribbling away furiously and Remus wished that he could go talk to her. Sure, he could always walk over and try and begin a discussion with her, but that would get him no where. They would politely have a strained conversation about nothing and than she would get all awkward and either leave or someone would come over and join the conversation.

They could never talk like they used to.

Things would probably never go back to the way they used to be.

Hell, Remus would give anything to even go back to the way things were _before_ they started dating. Even when he had always had her complaining to him about her unrequited love for James, at least he had been around her.

Adriana looked up from her potions book and they held eye contact for a moment. A strange expression crossed her face and she forced a polite smile for him. Remus smiled back, praying that he didn't look too much like an idiot. Adriana kept his gaze for a second longer before looking back down and writing away again.

Remus continued to watch her for a while, shifting in his seat so that it looked more like he was gazing at the fire instead of her so that she didn't get uncomfortable under his gaze. Since she had started dating Zalphin she began to alter her appearance. She did little things that went unnoticed by everyone other than Remus who had always been a big advocate on her keeping her natural looks. Her eyes had gotten narrower, her lips a bit thinner. She had also made herself look paler and taken all the ringlets out of her hair so that it hung straight and past her shoulders.

He didn't like it one bit.

But life had gone on. Circe and Sirius had continued to date, and James and Lily had even begun a relationship. It seemed to him - as manic depressive as it sounded - that everyone was happy but him.

"Hey there Moony," Sirius said with a good natured pat on Remus' back as he took the seat next to Remus on the couch. "How's it going?"

Remus shot Sirius a look that told him exactly how horribly everything was going as James and Peter came over and sat on the couch across from Sirius and Remus.

"Don't worry Moony; everything will all work out in the end." James said, knowing that Remus' misery stemmed entirely from his problems with Adriana. Sirius looked over at Adriana and waved, catching her attention. She waved back and than looked pointedly at her watch before packing up her stuff and leaving the common room, presumably for the library.

Remus sighed again, "She hates me."

"She doesn't hate you mate," James replied looking sympathetic. Remus didn't want their sympathy.

"Yeah, she's just confused." Sirius spoke up too.

"She'll come around," Peter spoke up, trying his best to sound comforting.

"Circe said that Adriana has been acting a bit off lately," Sirius leaned forward and lowering his voice as he spoke. If Circe knew about him acting as a double agent she probably would stop voicing her worries about Adriana. But Sirius had been friends with Remus longer than with Circe and he knew Remus needed all the help he could get.

Remus wasted no time in asking, "Off how?"

"Just off, you know. Circe says that she's been spending a lot of time with Zalphin," at this Remus cringed and Sirius glanced apologetically at him, but kept on. He had promised to tell Remus everything that Circe said about Adriana. "But she doesn't seem to be happy. All she ever does is study her potions books. According to Circe Adriana is working on some big project, but it must be for extra credit because none of the other potions students know anything about it."

"She certainly has become obsessed," James said with concern. "Maybe she's making some kind of potion up, to pass time? She does want to be an Auror doesn't she? Maybe she's just trying to get an edge over all the other applicants?"

"Yeah, maybe." Remus leaned back in his chair and brushed the hair out of his eyes. It hurt so much that he had to hear all about Adriana's life from his friends, but there was no real help for it.

Sirius also leaned back in his chair just as the door to the common room opened and Lily and Circe walked in. They hurriedly changed the subject at James' and Sirius' girlfriends walked over and sat with the group.

After only a few minutes of hanging out with his best friends and their girlfriends Remus politely excused himself and left for his dorm room. It was only 9:00 at night, but Remus didn't feel much like being social anymore.

All he wanted was to go to sleep so he could dream of Adriana and how things used to be …

_**A/N **_I am REALLY REALLY sorry about the long wait in between chapters! I have said it before and I will say it again, I hate it when other authors take so long with updating, and I wish I wasn't so busy and that I could update more often. This chapter was incredibly hard to write and I have been working on it for the last few months. It's not as good as I would've liked but as my two stories draw to an end it just gets harder and harder. I hope you enjoy it and I shall really really try to update more often.  
Grad is in 7 weeks so I should have a lot more time then, and I will make an effort to update before then too!


	18. Muggle Born Beware, What are you up to?

_part one._

Remus was quickly learning that though he enjoyed watching Quidditch from time to time he was not much of a spectator. Every time he was forced to witness Adrianna with that dolt Zalphin it was like a long and painful electrocution - the kind he had learned about in Muggle Studies. And he was forced to watch them more and more as the only time she wasn't in the library she was with him. Well, maybe not forced to watch them, but when the only kind of contact you get from the one woman you've ever loved is watching her from afar it's something you try and hold on to.

Adriana was even alienating herself from her closest friends. Lily and Circe had barely spoken to her in three and a half weeks and this worried Remus greatly. She was never around anymore - never in the Common Room, never outside on the grounds. She'd even stopped attending Quidditch matches which hurt Circe greatly as she was already being scouted by some of Britain's top junior teams. Every time anyone tried to talk to her she was always locked away inside her head at the library studying for a project that no one knew existed. Remus had it on good authority (he was on good terms with the librarian) that she had checked out every single Potions book at least twice, and had read all the dark arts books too. She even had the Librarian order more in for her from other schools, a favour she had to go to Dumbledore to ask. Now, he knew she had high ambitions to be an Auror but this was becoming a bit much.

Seventh year was supposed to have been spectacular for all of them. Everything was finally as it should be – Lily and James, Sirius and Circe. Even Peter had found someone from Hufflepuff. All that was left was Remus and Adriana, but he'd lost hope weeks ago that things would ever be the same between them. He had hurt her and scared her and it was inexcusable. There was no way after what he'd done he'd be allowed back in her good graces, and this shamed him beyond belief. He knew it was his fault. He knew it should never have happened. What he didn't know was why she'd been in the dark forest.

What had been so important to her that she had snuck out in the dead of night – on the night of a full moon when she _knew_ that there was at least one resident werewolf – to go get?

Why had she refused to tell him when he'd asked her? They'd told each other everything since Second Year and she'd chosen now to hide things from him.

Remus' curiosity was more than just piqued. It was all he could thing about. Somewhere in the back of his head Remus was convinced that if he could find out these answers he'd be able to make things right between them. He knew these thoughts were groundless and that they'd probably never get back together, but he had to hold on. He loved her too much to just let her walk out of his life after graduation.

It was with all this in mind that made Remus seek Adriana out in the library one sunny afternoon. He had wanted to speak to her before but had to wait for a nice day – a day he knew Zalphin would be out on his broom with the other Slytherin Quidditch players.

He found her near the restricted section, five or more worn out potions books strewn across the desk. She was writing furiously in her notebook, the only accessory that had not left her side in months. Remus walked quietly towards her, trying not to startle her, but he needn't have worried. Adriana was far too engrossed in her work to even notice him. He and James could've played an entire game of exploding snap and she wouldn't have noticed.

When he finally stood close enough to she what she was writing he stopped as a word caught his eye. Aconite. It tickled his memory but for the life of him he couldn't remember what its significance was.

Remus, feeling guilty for spying decided to break the silence. "Hey," he said it softly, his voice unsure.

Adriana looked up and the second she noticed who it was she closed her notebook. She quirked an eyebrow. "Lupin."

The use of his last name hurt but Remus knew exactly what she was doing. Adriana wanted to be left alone and she was trying to upset him so he'd leave. It was a tactic she'd used a hundred times since they'd known each other and one that rarely worked. In fact, the only times it had ever worked was when he'd known she needed alone time and indulged her.

But not this time. This time they needed to talk.

"I know you don't want me around, you don't seem to want anyone around anymore. But this will only take a few minutes if you cooperate. Come on Ri," he didn't wait for her reply and sat down at her table, peering at her over her wall of books.

She tried another tactic. "Marcus won't like it if he sees you here." This one hurt like a bludger in the gut but he ignored it and pressed on.

"We're all worried about you," she rolled her eyes. "Especially Lily and Circe. All you ever do is sit in here working on your private project-"

"I'm studying!" she interrupted, showing annoyance at his prying.

"Studying for what? I know you and Zalphin finished all those Potions projects. There aren't any other big things for you to do other then NEWTs and I know that's not it. If it was you'd be studying a subject you didn't know, not reading'Burberries 17th Edition Mystical Herbs and Legendary Plants' for the hundredth time. If you don't want to talk to me you should at least talk to Lily and Circe. Or Prongs even! He'd listen to you. Just talk to someone; let us know what's going on."

"Nothing is going on. And everything is fine between me and everyone but you." She looked away and began to open a book, dismissing him.

"If you really believe that then you must not have heard Circe crying last night." It was a low blow, but one he knew would finally make her pay attention. She looked up.

"Why was she crying? I swear if Black did something –"

"Padfoot didn't do anything. She was crying because of you. You promised you'd go watch her play yesterday – a scout from the Chudley Cannons came! You never showed and it hurt her. She has _always_ been there for you anytime you've ever needed her and you didn't even have the decency to show up and watch her play." He watched the hurt cross her face but didn't stop. She needed to hear this and though it broke his heart to hurt her again she needed it to help her smarten up.

"I was busy," Adriana mumbled. "I forgot, but I'm sure she'll understand."

"Busy doing what?"

"Something important."

"How important? Important enough to loose the two best friends you ever had? Important enough to jeopardize everything that used to be important to you? What are you doing Ri, what is this project that you've nearly killed yourself over?"

"I don't need to nearly kill myself over anything Lupin you've done that for me." Her words stopped him dead in his tracks and his face lost all colour.

It took him a minute to reply and though she didn't move a muscle he could see in here eyes that she regretted what she said. Her now violet eyes, eyes that she'd changed, just like she'd changed everything else about herself, everything he'd loved.

Remus stood up smiling sadly at her as he began to walk away. "Zalphin really has rubbed off on you. You know this better be important to you. He better be important to you because you've changed Ri, and pretty soon you're going to have no one left." With that said he walked away, refusing to turn back though he knew she would be crying.

He didn't stop walking until he'd left the library, trying desperately to get away from her before he lost it and cried. He walked away so fast, running from the ringing in his ears that he didn't hear her whisper.

"It is important to me – more than you can imagine. And it's important to you too you just don't know it yet."

_part two._

Lost in his own thoughts and pain from the way Adriana had talked to him Remus didn't hear the shouts that would've warned him what he was about to walk into. So upset was he that he didn't notice the brightness that came around the corridor caused by angry spells. All he could notice was that things definitely were over between him and Ri.

It wasn't until he turned the corner, heading towards the Gryffindor common room that he finally noticed something was amiss. It was there he saw something he never would've expected to see in the Halls of Hogwarts in a million years. A full blown attack on four Muggle born students.

Remus paused for a second to wrap his head around what was going on and to get his wand out. They still hadn't noticed him. There were several students wearing black cloaks and hoods masking there faces, wands out and ready. He couldn't tell how many they were as they just kept moving, trying and succeeding in creating a wall around the four terrified students. Three of them, two of which he recognized as Ravenclaw students from the fourth year were huddled on the floor, crying as the spells whipped them around, slashing their faces and making their limbs jerk in pain. The fourth was lying unconscious on the floor blood pooling around his side. Remus was taken aback when he recognized him – Jeremy Bright, a prefect from Hufflepuff.

If he'd been a different man he would've run for help. If he'd been a different man he would've known he couldn't take on that many students all by himself. It he'd been a different man he wouldn't have been sorted into Gryffindor.

Remus whipped up his wand and cast two spells before they'd even noticed him standing there – his adeptness in Dark Arts finally paying off. Both attackers hit the ground, paralyzed from his hits. Three more turned on him, their laughter hesitating for just a moment until they noticed Remus was alone.

One stepped forward. "Get lost Lupin before we kill you too." Kill him too? Was Jeremy Bright dead then? He didn't recognize the voice, whoever said it must have cast a spell to disguise their voice before the attack. In response Remus cast another spell, this one hitting the speaker square in the chest, knocking him to the ground, stunned.

A spell hit him back, slicing open his cheek but it didn't affect Remus. He'd been through far too much pain in his life from his lycanthropy to let a little scratch stop him. He charged forward, taking another attacker down with a physical attack, his senses heightened and his blood lust awakened in anger. He was out to hurt.

Another spell lifted him in the air and threw him against a nearby wall. He noticed now there were five of them staring at him, seven hooded demons in total (one of the first ones he had hit had gotten up). Remus stood his ground, ignoring the pain in his head as he tried to cast a spell, getting his wand knocked out of his hand by magic from one of the attackers. With all their attention on him the three students on the ground had gotten up, one ran for help but was knocked angrily to the ground while the other two tried to cast spells, spells that hit the black figures pitifully, earning their wrath once more. Remus was left alone with three guards.

"You should've walked away," a different voice this time. "But I suppose you Gryffindor's are far too stupid to know what's good for you."

Remus made not attempt to speak back, only glared. His brain was working overtime trying to figure out how to get himself out of this mess.

One of the cloaked figures stepped forward, wand held steady and dripping with malice. "I'm going to hurt you Lupin, just as I've wanted to for months." Remus jerked his head back, recognition dawning on him. He _knew_ that voice. It was one he heard far more often then he liked a voice that caused his gut to twist in pain. Marcus Zalphin.

Before he could shout back he was hit again with two spells, each one coming from a different source, and neither one from Zalphin. His head hit the wall behind him and he spat blood. The next spell jerked him sideways as he heard one of the Ravenclaw boys scream, restrained and made to watch the torture. Blood poured from his nose as his face hit the wall, he grunted in pain.

Just as Remus slumped down, the pain becoming too much for him to stand up to he heard five more shouts. He saw three of the attackers get hit with spells and he opened up his eyes to see who'd come to his rescue. Prongs, Padfoot, Wormtail, Circe and Lily.

His eyes were clouding over with pain and he squeezed them shut as the fight got fought without him. He knew without watching that Prongs and Padfoot were malicious in their revenge, striking out hard and fast at those who'd hurt their friend. He knew that Circe and Lily, sensible but talented, were standing a bit back, dealing justice to their hooded foes with glares like ice. He also knew where Wormtail would be, dear Peter who should've been sorted into a different house, one not known for the brave. Wormtail was standing back, his wand out but no spells flying forth, too frightened to try, and satisfied in knowing that his friends would take care of everything for him. Peter always liked having powerful friends.

The fight was over almost immediately after their arrival. He wasn't watching when it happened, but he felt the cloud of smoke covering his face and was told later by James that one of the Slytherins – and they were convinced that's who they were – had gotten away from them and cast a smoke bomb so that his friends could escape too. He did, however, hear the angry shout coming from the attacker who had been smart enough to disguise his voice.

"Just you wait! Lord Voldemort is coming! He is coming and the blood will spill! Not even Dumbledore will be able to stop us then!"

James rushed to Remus' side while the other four looked after the original victims.

"What happened Mooney? Are you ok?" James asked after conjuring up some bandages and water for Remus.

"I'm not sure. I was just coming around the corner, leaving the library, when I came across this. They had them in – wait! Jeremy Bright! Bright was badly hurt, what happened to him? Is he ok? Did they kill him?"

James looked over his shoulder and both boys saw Lily as she helped Jeremy up from the ground, his arm around her shoulder for support. "He looks ok. Hurt, but ok." James answered. "What else happened? Do you know how this got started?"

Remus just shook his head. "I don't know. I jumped in as soon as I saw, foolish of me, I know." Sirius, who'd come to stand by his two best friends, laughed.

"It wasn't foolish. If you hadn't come in who knows what might have happened." Sirius said, patting Remus on the shoulder and causing him to wince in pain.

"Yeah, it must be that animal instinct in you." Remus smiled at James' attempt at humor. "I'm serious Mooney; three of those guys were seriously hurting when we got here. You must've been quite the vigilante."

Circe headed towards them. "Everyone seems to be ok, but we're going to take these guys to the Hospital Wing," Circe spoke, her eyes on Sirius. "Lupin? Are you coming?"

James answered for him. "Yup, we'll be behind you guys in one minute." Circe nodded and left to help Lily carry Jeremy to the Hospital Wing with Peter and the other three injured students.

"Mooney, did you recognize any of them?" James asked, quietly.

Remus began to shake his head in a negative when he remembered what he'd heard. His eyes lit up in anger and both Sirius and James could feel the raw fury that radiated from him. "I recognized the only one not smart enough to disguise his voice. Marcus Zalphin was there."

Sirius' eyebrows shot up. "Zalphin? Finn's Zalphin? Are you sure?"

Remus nodded. "I know it was him."

Everyone was silent while James and Sirius helped their wounded friend from the ground. He may be a werewolf with increased strength, but taking a beating like the one he'd just had was enough to render anyone incapable of walking on their own.

It wasn't until they were halfway down the hall that Sirius finally spoke. "Well, as long as you know it was him all that means is we have to prove it."

And even after the words were said all three boys knew that was going to be their biggest challenge.

_part three._

"Jealousy is not a becoming trait Remus Lupin!" Adriana spat darkly, bristling with anger and surrounded by Remus, James, Sirius, Circe, and Lily. She chose to ignore the others around her and saved her death glare for Remus.

"I know what I heard Ri," Remus didn't yell back, just leaned back calmly in his chair and looked her in the eyes. If she knew him at all she would know he was telling the truth.

After their meeting with Dumbledore (whom they'd informed of the mysterious mention of Voldemort, a name he'd been shocked to hear) and after being assured that everything was ok with the injured students the five friends had ambushed Adriana in the library – still sitting in the exact spot he had left her in earlier. Remus had already convinced his friends that he had indeed heard Zalphin's voice and they had all agreed to tell Adriana together lest she ignore Remus. It hadn't taken them long to prove this theory, in there minds if not in fact. After all, Marcus Zalphin had supposedly been practicing Quidditch with six other Slytherin students – all of which had miraculously disappeared from the Quidditch pitch around the time of the attack.

There had been seven attackers in the hall that day, and seven Quidditch players who were all MIA. It didn't take a huge leap of faith to determine what had happened. Dumbledore was already informed and had begun questioning the students.

"Finn, I know you're not stupid. Listen to the logic here! Zalphin has _never_ been a nice guy! Why are you finding it so hard to believe that he would be apart of this attack? Especially when Lupin, who has never lied to you a day in his life, tells you he heard him!" Circe asked the question, trying hard to disguise the edge of annoyance in her voice.

Remus stiffened a bit when he heard Circe speak. Adriana knew that he had lied to her and to all of them, legitimately of course and only to protect his secret, but Remus knew Adriana would remember that well. Adriana remembered everything.

"At least consider the possibility Adriana," it was Lily's turn to try reasoning with their stubborn friend. "Seven Slytherin Quidditch players, all pure blood fanatics, all missing from the Quidditch pitch as this attack happened? It's much too much to be a coincidence."

Remus watched Adriana's eyes narrow and grew apprehensive. He knew that look all to well. Adriana was up to something, her thoughts racing faster than a Golden Snitch. He noticed the twitch of her left eye, a sign he'd learned to see as a warning. Adriana was about to lie.

"It's not possible. Marcus was here with me."

Remus cast a quick glance around at his friends and was happy to note that not one of them showed any sign that they believed her.

"I guess I must've missed him when I sat down?" Remus quipped.

"He came in right after you left. You must've just passed him." Adriana glared at him, challenging him to call her a liar.

He didn't get the chance.

"Bullocks!" James exploded, throwing his hands up in the air. "You're lying Finn, and you're doing it to protect someone cruel enough to inflict that much pain? Maybe we should take you down to the medical wing so you can see what your boyfriend is capable of?"

"Don't you dare talk to me about pain Potter! I know what certain people are capable of," Adriana cast a quick glance at Remus before continuing. "I've seen you and Black having your 'fun' with Snape."

Sirius interjected. "That's different-"

"Different how? I don't see how it's any different."

"They were defenseless! Finn, those boys had no hope in hell of defending themselves and they're lucky Mooney showed up when he did or they might have died! Don't you understand what's happening?" James' impatience was boiling beneath the surface.

"Right. And of course Lupin was the only one there who heard Zalphin's voice. Or are any of you willing to back him up?

Not a soul spoke. Nobody else had heard Marcus Zalphin speak and Remus knew how it looked. His friends believed him. Dumbledore was looking into it. But of course Adriana would try and turn this on Remus, implying that he would make it up.

"I may not have heard Zalphin speak but I back Lupin up whole heartedly." Lily crossed her arms and leaned against James.

"You'd take his word against mine?" Adriana was pushing it, eyeing both Circe and Lily for help. Circe and Lily, two girls who had been with her since day one of Hogwarts. Her best friends in the whole world, people who should always take her side no matter what.

"With the way you've been acting lately I would take his word against yours any day. You've changed Adriana and it has not been for the better." Lily cast her eyes down as she spoke, not wanting to see the look of hurt that stained Adriana's face but saying something that needed to be said.

Adriana turned to look at Circe wanting someone to believe in her though they all knew she was lying.

Circe spoke, looking Adriana in the eye with cold eyes. "Would you still be lying to protect him if I'd been attacked? After all, I'm just another _mudblood_ like those poor kids. Or is it only ok when your boyfriend attacks those to weak to defend themselves?"

"Stop it!" Adriana shouted shutting her eyes tight as a few errant tears fell down her cheek.

"You need to rethink your priorities Ri before you lose everything that used to matter to you. We'll be in the common room if you change your mind." Circe didn't wait to see if anyone followed her as she turned around and walked away. Lily followed almost immediately.

Sirius and James began to walk away with Sirius speaking over his shoulder. "Someday you'll remember who your real friends are Finn."

Adriana still had her eyes shut as the tears began to fall freely now. Only Remus was left and he made no move to get up until she finally looked at him, the violet washed from her eyes by the salty tears.

"Haven't you said everything you came here to say? Or are you going to tell me what an awful person I am too?" Adriana didn't look at him while she spoke.

Remus didn't answer right away. He loved her so much and it hurt, watching her lose her friends, watching her switch her loyalties. She had changed so much in the last few months that she was becoming unrecognizable and it broke his heart.

"I'm not here to hurt you."

"Then what do you want? I have work to do," she sniffed and wiped her eyes, trying to regain her composure.

"You know I'm telling the truth Ri and we both know you're lying. Why Ri? Why lie to protect someone we all know is guilty?"

She hesitated so long he was sure she wouldn't answer and when she did her words shook him to the core. "If I told you the truth you'd never understand Remus. Just know that I need him."

"Need him for what?" Remus leaned forward on the table and lowered his voice, trying to encourage her to confide in him again.

"Isn't it enough to know that I need him?" When Remus shook his head she continued. "He knows things I need, he's helping me Remus! I can't tell you how, but I also can't let him be expelled! This is too important to me to be ripped away!" She started to cry again and her cryptic words frightened him. "I've lost too much already," she whispered.

"Is this more important to you than justice for those who were hurt? Is it more important than protecting those who could be attacked in the future?" He saw her tiny nod and dread filled his stomach.

Adriana had her mind set and Remus knew instantly that Marcus Zalphin was not going to be expelled.

He was, for the first time, disgusted at his dear Adriana Finn. Remus got up to leave but stopped when he got to the shelves of books. Marcus Zalphin must have something to do with this project of hers, this obsession. He ran his hand along some dusty tomes and couldn't look at her when he spoke.

"I hope it really is as important as you say it is Ri. You're hurting people that I never thought you capable of hurting, and all for a silly project. All for Marcus Zalphin."

He heard her stand, imploring and begging him to understand. "This isn't about him Remus! This is about you and I need his help!"

Remus spun around just in time to see her slap her hand over her mouth.

About him? That was impossible.

"What do you mean Adriana?" it took him a few long strides to get to her and to grab her shoulders with his hands, forcing her to look at him. "What is all this about?" He was angry at her and all her secrets.

She shook her head, her eyes wide.

Remus opened his mouth to ask her again when another voice stopped him cold and dead in his tracks.

"Get your hands off my girlfriend before I remove them myself." Marcus Zalphin walked over towards the table death in his eyes.

Remus let go of Adriana and turned to look at Marcus. There were bruises on his face and a long gash on his wand hand. Remus' eyes narrowed in disgust.

"I hope I don't have to tell you again to stay away from her," Marcus slid his arm around Adriana and Remus saw her cringe a bit. There was something going on here, something that neither him or his friends had noticed before. Hers was not the face of someone so in love they were willing to lie. Hers was not the face of happiness.

Remus chose to ignore Marcus; something he knew would grate on the boy's nerves.

"Remember what Circe said. We'll be there for you if you need us." Remus began to walk away, stiffening at the Slytherin's taunts but not rising to the bait.

"Need you for what? Didn't Adriana dump you Lupin? Are you so desperate that you need to crawl back to her and make up lies about me?"

Remus was gone before he could hear Adriana ask Marcus to stop, something that earned her a rough shake and a hard stare.

"Adriana, don't you ever let me catch you talking to him again or you'll be sorry." She nodded her head, eyes narrowing so slightly in anger that he didn't notice. "I told old Dumbledore that I was with you this afternoon. I'm sure you heard what happened and I need your help with this one."

"Were you involved?" Adriana asked with a frown.

Marcus smiled eerily, his dark eyes telling her the opposite of what his mouth said. "Of course not. You know me Adriana. Now, can you please tell Dumbledore I was with you?"

Adriana nodded, hating herself for it but knowing she would never be able to help Remus without him. She just hoped that one day he would understand what she was putting herself through for him. All of this was for him.

Adriana Finn would never stop loving Remus Lupin.

**A/N** Have you ever written a story and gotten scared near the end? Dreading what will happen if your beloved readers aren't satisfied with how you've decided to end it all? I think that is what has happened to me. I have been dreaming up these two stories for so long, worked so hard on them, that I have just become afraid of the end. I think that is what has kept me away from FanFiction for so long. That is what has kept me from my pen. Well, that, a blooming social life and immersion into the real world of adult hood.  
But now I am here, after becoming one of those Author's I loathe so much. One of those Author's who starts a story and just walks away, leaving everyone who reads it to wonder where the story goes from there. I am back to finish what I started, following the map I laid out so long ago. There are only a few chapters left, most of them already finished and I will do my best to get them up here before the New Year (I say before the New Year because I am moving to another province in 3 weeks and make no guarantees.  
Just know I have good intentions and I will see this story through to the end, even if it has been a long wait. I hope you haven't lost interest.

**Please, read and review.  
Let me know that I haven't driven you away with my long leave of absence.  
Sincerely, Professor-Fidget**


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